Ron DeSantis Ready to 'Wear a Boot Over His Head' if Donald Trump Joins Him in a GOP Debate

Ron DeSantis is threatening to wear his boot on his head in exchange for Donald Trump joining the other Republican presidential candidates onstage for a debate next week. DeSantis appeared to contribute to the seemingly never-ending controversy over whether or not he puts lifts in his boots by imagining himself wearing a boot on his head during next week's GOP primary debate. After weeks of boot-lift rumors, DeSantis told Newsmax's Eric Bolling, “If Donald Trump can summon the balls to show up to the debate, I’ll wear a boot on my head,” HuffPost reported. DeSantis added that it’s “a time for substance.”

He continued by mentioning Donald Trump's comments on the subject, reports the Daily Beast. The former president's campaign proclaimed "#BOOTGATE" to be DeSantis' "KISS OF DEATH" on Tuesday. “I know Donald Trump and a lot of his people have been focusing on things like footwear,” DeSantis said. The Florida governor, who has refuted wearing any kind of footwear that increases height, initially addressed the commotion by declaring that “this is no time for foot fetishes” because “we’ve got serious problems as a country” in the Newsmax interview.

Not too long afterward, Carly Atchison, the national spokesperson for DeSantis, went a little too far on social media by making a shallow challenge to Trump campaign personnel. “ATTN: Team Trump 'men,’ if you ever decide to man up, you and your boss can buy a pair of balls here,” she posted on X, with a link to a website where you can buy golf balls with DeSantis' name on them.

Atchison even tagged two members of Trump's campaign crew, who promptly shot back. “Ron DeSantis is so broke he needs to sell his balls to strangers to make rent and keep the lights on,” wrote Steven Cheung. “So the DeSantis team finally admits that Trump has Desantis’ balls in a box,” replied Alex Bruesewitz. “Acceptance is an important step!”

Last month, Trump uploaded pictures of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' boots to his Truth Social page, escalating the allegations about his shoe choices. Earlier this week, DeSantis emphasized that he exclusively wears off-the-rack boots without lifts, which has only served to intensify the conversation about his shoes and provide hosts of late-night shows with more material.

In the GOP polls last year, DeSantis was racing ahead to the lead, even surpassing the outgoing president at one point. Since then, he has dropped to a distant second place, sometimes lagging Trump by up to 50 points in polls.

DeSantis' jab at Trump comes after the former president has refused to attend any GOP debates. In an interview before the first GOP debate, Trump gave Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News personality, an explanation for his decision, saying that he didn't want to be “harassed by people that shouldn’t even be running for president.” Many candidates attempted to bribe him to attend the second discussion. However, it doesn't appear that he will be at the Miami debate on Wednesday next week either.