GOP presidential hopeful and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has once again found himself made a punching bag online after he was caught in an embarrassing video on the campaign trail.
The first GOP presidential primary debate is days away: frontrunner and former President Donald Trump isn't participating; anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has the chance to capitalise on a recent burst in popularity; and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has made it his life's goal to blast Mr Trump as often as possible before the primary ends.
Meanwhile, Mr DeSantis, formerly hailed the only Republican with the chance to take town Mr Trump, has failed to gain significant ground on the four-times-indicted ex-president since the start of the race. Despite assuring pundits that Americans would flip to his side after hearing his policy goals during the first debate, he will instead enter the event with a metaphorical black eye.
A memo that leaked from the DeSantis camp suggested the candidate was being coached to defend Mr Trump from Mr Christie, and to "sledgehammer" Mr Ramaswamy, according to the New York Times.
A video captured the moment Mr DeSantis was asked about the alleged debate strategy and about his comms director Andrew Romero's comments that the other candidates would have their "knives out" for the Florida governor.
In the footage, a Fox News reporter questions Mr DeSantis, who appears deeply uncomfortable, clenching and grinding his teeth while maintaining an apparently artificial smile for the camera.
An X/Twitter commenter going by the handle InternetHippo shared the video of Mr DeSantis and said "the chances of him having a career ending public outburst are rising sharply."
Another commenter, using the handle Jebbush2077, said the Florida governor deserved the humiliation.
"He spent his entire adult life to get to this moment. All of it undone in an instant when the host of Celebrity Apprentice called him 'Meatball Ron'. This is true horror. He has a mouth, yet he cannot scream. He must endure this shame in public," the user wrote. "And he deserves to. He knows it."
Other users drew parallels between Mr DeSantis and the fascist antagonist Homelander from the Amazon Prime show The Boys.
"The poor man’s Homelander, or Mobile-Homelander," one user commented on the video.
The leak and subsequent video are just the latest in a series of stumbles and blunders for the DeSantis campaign.
An early campaign video ended with the Florida governor's face apparently superimposed over a Black Sun, a Nazi symbol that was used in the upper echelons of the Third Reich, including on the floor of Wewelsburg Castle, formerly owned by Heinrich Himmler. The campaign fired the staffer who made the video.
Since then, Mr DeSantis has questioned a child about the sugar content in their Icee; has been booed and heckled by Trump supporters on camera; was forced to drop entry into a beer drinking campaign event to $1, and even then few people showed; and posted a campaign ad comparing himself to fictional serial killer Patrick Bateman.
