The ad, called “Pudding Fingers,” was released on social media on Friday, but it has also started airing on TV stations, including CNN and Fox News.
It centers around an alleged incident reported by the Daily Beast last month that discussed “unflattering stories about [DeSantis’s] social skills—particularly, his propensity to devour food during meetings.”
Two sources told the Beast that in 2019, while flying on a private plane, DeSantis had startled staffers by eating a chocolate pudding dessert not with a spoon, but with three of his fingers.
In some corners of the internet, DeSantis was soon given the nickname “Puddin’ Ron,” while New York magazine’s Intelligencer vertical swiftly declared, “This story will follow DeSantis like pudding sticks to fingers,” and suggested it might end his White House hopes.
For what it’s worth, DeSantis denied the story during an interview with Piers Morgan, saying he didn’t remember doing that as an adult, but could have done it when he was a child.