Presidential hopeful Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) declined to correct the record on the pronunciation of his last name, leaving many Americans confused whether it is pronounced “Dee-Santis” or “Duh-Santis.”
“We’ve got a long last name. European name, Steinhauser. There’s been some confusion over your last name and the pronunciation and I’m just wondering to correct the record, what is it?” Fox News’s Paul Steinhauser asked DeSantis on Thursday.
Instead of shutting down speculation on the pronunciation, DeSantis insisted his last name should be pronounced as “winner.”
“Oh, it’s ridiculous. These stupid things. Listen, the way to pronounce my last name — winner,” DeSantis told Steinhauser.
Americans are rightfully confused about the proper pronunciation of the Florida governor’s last name, as he has switched back and forth between “Dee-Santis” and “Duh-Santis” over the years, including in the week since he launched his 2024 campaign.
As Axios reported:
What’s happening: During his first week as a candidate, DeSantis pronounced his name “Dee-Santis” during:
- The video announcing his presidential campaign.
- A radio interview in South Carolina, in which he told listeners to go to “RonDee-Santis.com.”
But then: DeSantis pronounced it “Deh-Santis” during interviews with Fox News, Glenn Beck, Erick Erickson, and Mark Levin this past week.
Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican primary, has made several comments about DeSantis’s apparent name change.
Trump posted on Truth Social:
Have you heard that “Rob” DeSanctimonious wants to change his name, again. He is demanding that people call him DeeeSantis, rather than DaSantis. Actually, I like “Da” better, a nicer flow, so I am happy he is changing it. He gets very upset when people, including reporters, don’t pronounce it correctly. Therefore, he shouldn’t mind, DeSanctimonious?
Trump also referenced the issue during a campaign stop in Iowa on Thursday.
Trump said:
But he’s going around saying, oh, well, I can serve for eight years. It takes eight years to fix it. No, he made a big mistake, just like you don’t change your name in the middle of the election. Changed his name in the middle of the election. You don’t do that. You do it before or after, but ideally, you don’t do it at all. I liked it before. Anyway, I liked his name better before. I don’t like the name change. Should we tell him that? But most people don’t know what I mean. No, he’s actually sort of changed the name.
DeSantis on Thursday called Trump’s attacks “petty” and “juvenile” and suggested comments like those are why Trump is no longer in the White House.
“I think it’s so petty. I think it’s so juvenile. I don’t think that’s what voters want,” DeSantis said. “And honestly, I think that his conduct, which he’s been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now, because I think he alienated too many voters for things that really don’t matter.”
Professor William Connell, chair of Italian Studies at Seton Hall University, told Axios that DeSantis’s use of “Dee-Santis” is “unusual,” given his Italian heritage.
“Day-Sahn-tees’ would be proper Italian, but sloughing it off as ‘Deh-Santis’ is common,” Connell said. “But ‘Dee-Santis’ is unusual because that would be spelled ‘DiSantis’ in Italian.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.