Just call him ‘Gone’ DeSantis.
The Florida governor was spotted in Iowa last week looking slimmer than he has in years, even since his inauguration in January.
DeSantis is taking all steps to launch a White House bid later this year.
He has just published a book, The Courage to Be Free, which takes him to early primary states.
And potential presidential hopefuls also tend to lose weight.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been cutting his figure lately. At left is DeSantis in December 2019 compared to an appearance last week in Iowa
DeSantis watchers even say they can see a difference in DeSantis’ weight from his January inauguration (pictured) and appearances on his current book tour
The Florida governor is photographed in June 2019 (left) and then last week in Davenport, Iowa
As an example, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fueled speculation that he would jump into the 2024 GOP primary after becoming noticeably thinner since leaving office.
DeSantis’ diet worked so quickly that Puck News speculated Thursday that he might be taking Ozempic, the diabetes weight-loss drug that celebrities are turning to to shed pounds fast.
“He’s just a shell of his former self,” a Tallahassee insider told Puck.
Peter Schorsch, editor of Florida Politics, wrote Thursday on Twitter that DeSantis won’t take Ozempic “even if the rest of Tally and Miami do”.
“Words on the street Ronnie D. skipped the carbs — no bread, no desserts!” Schorsch wrote.
It means Donald Trump could lose one of his lines of attack during the campaign.
The former president called DeSantis “fat” and “whiny” and paid tribute to him as governor-elected, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman wrote in her book Confidence Man.
It could be a good policy move for DeSantis to avoid further ridicule after the Daily Beast reported Thursday that the governor ate chocolate pudding with three of his fingers during a flight from Tallahassee to Washington, DC in March 2019.
DeSantis made his debut in Iowa last Friday, and longtime observers noted that he looked slimmer than ever
“He sat in meetings and ate in front of people,” a former DeSantis employee also told The Beast. Adding, “Always like a starving animal that has never eaten … shit everywhere.”
Puck also reported that employees would lure DeSantis to meetings with cupcakes.
And he’s a big fan of fried chicken from Zaxby’s, a popular Southern fast-food chain, Puck said.
DeSantis may also have been inspired to lose weight after hearing that former President Donald Trump — who has recently made DeSantis his favorite political piñata — spat out the idea of calling him “Meatball Ron.”
It’s a Trump tradition to give nicknames to all his political rivals.
En route to Davenport, Iowa on Monday, Trump explained to reporters why he chose to stay with Ron “DeSanctimonious” instead.
“I don’t use that name. It is used by others. I don’t like that name, I think it’s too rough,” Trump said, according to the Daily Caller. “I’m a very non-rude person.”
