In late 2021, Republican politician Ron DeSantis officially launched his campaign for president of the United States, but his campaign launch was quickly met with harsh criticism and even memes mocking his appearance and his use of the word “desaster.” Images claiming to be from ‘The Desaster’ campaign popped up on social media, including a manakin wearing a business suit and a cowboy hat with the tagline ‘DeSantis 2020: the Desaster.’
Other memes created using DeSantis’ image included one with him in a construction hard hat with a “DeSantis 2020” banner, along with the caption “DeSantis 2020: A Desaster in the Making!” Another popular meme showed DeSantis with his eyes crossed out with the caption “Just because it’s called ‘The Desaster’ doesn’t mean you have to live it.”
The memes caught the attention of DeSantis’ team, who quickly sent out a mass email campaign encouraging supporters to “help us stop these meme attacks” and to donate to the campaign to strengthen his efforts. Despite the efforts of his team, DeSantis still struggles to get ahead in the race for the Republican nomination. His campaign has yet to pick up traction, which may, in part, be due to the attention his launch received from memes.