Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is definitely getting eyeballs on his new campaign video, but for all the wrong reasons. In the super cringy spot that was tweeted by his wife ahead of the Florida primaries, DeSantis does his best Top Gun cosplay while touting his superior fighting skills when it comes to engaging the enemy: the media. However, don’t be fooled by “Top Gov” (yes, it’s really called that), or rumors that DeSantis was a SEAL. While he did serve in the Navy, his military career was all legal work. In other words, he wasn’t flying fighter jet missions. He was working a desk.
Top Gov… Dogfighting… Taking on the Corporate Media…
Rules of Engagement are as Follows:
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) August 23, 2022
Via Mediaite:
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen this is your governor speaking. Today’s training evolution—dog fighting, taking on the corporate media,” DeSantis says in the ad after being shown in the cockpit of a fighter jet.
“The rules of engagement are as follows: Number one—don’t fire unless fired upon but when they fire, you fire back with overwhelming force. Number two—never ever back down from a fight. Number three—don’t accept their narrative,” he continues.
When a United States governor pretends to be Tom Cruise for a campaign ad, you can already guess the reactions on social media. On top of flaming DeSantis for playing pretend fighter pilot, a surprising amount of Twitter users were old enough to remember Michael Dukakis driving around in a tank during his ill-fated run for president against George H.W. Bush. While it’s extremely likely that DeSantis will cruise through the primary, that doesn’t make the ad any less weird.
You can see some of the “Top Gov” reactions below:
This is so cringe. I literally am frozen in a cringe position from the cringeyness of this video. https://t.co/qJBP3J8htS
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) August 23, 2022
Fanboys prolly love this but for anyone who isn’t already a DeSantis diehard this has a strong Dukakis in the tank vibe to it. https://t.co/wvC1Hn636m
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 23, 2022
Nicknaming yourself. Always a winning move. https://t.co/xA0y7m1n8f
— Bill Scher (@billscher) August 23, 2022
Being a whiny asshole to reporters is just like flying fighter planes https://t.co/jMjH8Y0sKQ
— Drew McKevitt (on a hiatus, mostly) (@drewmckevitt) August 23, 2022
Oh dear. https://t.co/JWJsMAH1dD pic.twitter.com/sYSDAVVLcQ
— The Nicest Boy on this Website and App (@bikivindaloo) August 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/SouthofG/status/1562023621786304512
It worked soooo well for this gov https://t.co/rP2pMn1AcM pic.twitter.com/E9u9R2qiNE
— 🇺🇦 Don 🇺🇦 (@coug444) August 23, 2022
Florida is a simulation
I’m convinced https://t.co/fSOhsCpwvj
— Johnny Penagos 🇨🇴 (@JohnnyPenagoss) August 23, 2022
Congratulations, @DanCrenshawTX. You've dropped a peg on the pandering lollipop cringe leaderboard.
"Freedom Headquarters." My god, this ad to anyone with an IQ above that of a radish. #FLGov https://t.co/VACHgjoAgi
— Joe Rossi (@JoeLATrib) August 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/dietother/status/1562081948775944194
I wonder how many other people like me were planning to buy Top Gun Maverick today but decided not to because cosplaying Ron DeSantis ruined it.
Also, nice trademark infringement on the logo… https://t.co/Lz5jiABljR
— Teapot Dome was Amateur Hour!🇺🇦 (@HarrenGWarding) August 23, 2022
Top Ego would be more appropriate. https://t.co/OBo1xU4vWw
— Laura Jolly (@laurajollyfl) August 23, 2022
(Via Mediaite)