Ron Desantis speaks into a microphone at an event.

Ron DeSantis Is Being Roasted on Twitter After Saying He Was ‘Geographically Raised’ in Tampa Bay

"Geographically raised: Northeast Ohio. Culturally raised: Forks, Washington."

Kayla Harrington

Published: Mar 22, 2023 05:38 pm

Welcome back to “reasons why Ron DeSantis is a super weird dude who definitely shouldn’t be president!”

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Last time we checked in with our boy DeSantis, his former classmate revealed the super chill way he would weaponize ignorance to screen his dates and a former detainee at Guantánamo Bay explained the sadistic ways he allegedly helped torture inmates on a daily basis. And now he’s back in the spotlight for trying to connect to potential voters in the oddest way I’ve ever witnessed from a politician since Hilary Clinton’s “Pokémon GO to the Polls.”

According to NBC News, within the pages of his new political memoir, The Courage to Be Free, DeSantis described himself as being “geographically raised in Tampa Bay” but, he wrote, “culturally my upbringing reflected the working-class communities in western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio — from weekly church attendance to the expectation that one would earn his keep. This made me God-fearing, hard-working and America-loving.”

(Pop TV)

Now, I think it’s totally fine to love other states and feel some kind of emotional connection to them. But, my bullshit detector is telling me that DeSantis couldn’t care less about Pennsylvania, Ohio, or even Florida for that matter. He’s just saying this to score political points in order to win over more Trump-centric voters and, while I’m not one of them by any stretch of the imagination, I still don’t think it’s working. It’s just a load of incredibly insulting, reductive pandering.

Naturally, Twitter had an absolute field day roasting DeSantis and his faux country boy persona.

https://twitter.com/syllytyler/status/1637503242648145928

I was geographically raised just South of Boston. But culturally, my values have always reflected the urban raccoon population of greater Toronto–from eating mostly garbage, to aggressive confrontations with strangers, to my fierce commitment to protecting my cubs. https://t.co/FnCWclwRLA
— Rob Glover (@robglover.bsky.social) (@robglover2009) March 19, 2023

Geographically raised: Long Island

Culturally raised: Jurassic Park https://t.co/UpO5d8WlJI
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) March 19, 2023

I was geographically raised in White Plains, but culturally my upbringing reflected O’Connor’s Christ-haunted South and the BFG’s cave. This made me wooden leg-stealing, grandma-shooting, and whizzpopper-loving. https://t.co/y6K3om4p0e
— Phil Klay (@PhilKlay) March 19, 2023

I was geographically raised in Tampa, but culturally my upbringing reflected West Philadelphia. On the playground is where I used to play, Maxing and relaxing all cool, and shootin some b-ball outside of the school
— Matt Johnson (@mtjohnson01) March 19, 2023

geographically raised: northeast ohio

culturally raised: forks, washington https://t.co/365Zsa9Hcr
— samanthashanks the railway cat (@samanthamdigi) March 20, 2023

I was *geographically* raised in the working class, God-fearing communities of Kentucky, Kansas, and Texas. But *culturally* I was raised inside of a magical wardrobe in WWII England. https://t.co/uMgn3SzhZ7
— Dr. Lydia Bean (@LydiaBeanLee) March 19, 2023

I was geographically raised in New Jersey but culturally my upbringing reflected Tampa Bay where everyone calls Ron DeSantis "that bigoted asshole who eats pudding with his fingers" pic.twitter.com/OezbGah9RL
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) March 19, 2023

I was geographically raised in Kentucky but culturally raised in South Park.
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) March 20, 2023

It’s absolutely hilarious that DeSantis won’t allow trans people to access to the healthcare they need, and deserve, to live as their authentic selves, but will “identify” as someone who’s from states he never grew up in with a straight face. I’m already exhausted by DeSantis’ political stunts and we’re still a year and a half away from the presidential election.

We’re going to need a miracle to survive this. Or, at the very least, a lot of wine.

(featured image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Author

Kayla Harrington

Kayla Harrington (she/her) is a staff writer who has been working in digital media since 2017, starting at Mashable before moving to BuzzFeed and now here at The Mary Sue. She specializes in Marvel (Wanda Maximoff did nothing wrong!), pop culture, and politics. When she's not writing or lurking on TikTok, you can find Kayla reading the many unread books on her shelves or cuddling with one of her four pets. She's also a world class chef (according to her wife) and loves to try any recipe she can find.