Conservatives on social media mocked the Biden administration and had fun with a photo of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the presidential podium Wednesday.
DeSantis attended a press conference with President Joe Biden and state and local officials Wednesday afternoon. Live footage showed the Florida governor speaking behind a podium emblazoned with the seal of the President of the United States. DeSantis is considered a top contender to challenge Biden in 2024, and critics mocked the poor planning and optics of the photo.
The Twitter storm started when Republican Governors Association Communications Director Jesse Hunt shared a picture of Fox News’ coverage of the press conference on Twitter. “It’s moments like this when many in the national press should realize their preconceived notions about Ron DeSantis and his leadership style are way off base,” Hunt wrote.
The photo showed DeSantis speaking behind the presidential podium while Biden and Florida Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, who previously ran to challenge DeSantis for the governorship, stood behind him.
Conservatives on Twitter quickly pointed out the irony of giving one of Biden’s chief political rivals an easy photo op behind a presidential podium, and mocked the White House advance media team for it.
“The Biden White House arranged a photo op for Ron DeSantis to speak at a podium with the presidential seal. Wow,” radio talk show host Larry O’Connor wrote on Twitter.
“The Biden Advance Team letting DeSantis speak from behind the presidential seal is something to behold,” conservative radio host Erick Erickson wrote.
“I can’t believe the Biden advance team allowed this to happen. Amazing!😂” Neil Chatterjee, Former Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, tweeted.
“Tough day for the WH advance team,” Daily Wire host Michael Knowles joked.
Other users pointed out that standing behind a presidential podium is a fitting aesthetic for DeSantis.
“He looks good behind that podium,” AEI Senior Fellow and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen tweeted.
“Looks good to me,” Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe added.
“Man, DeSantis behind the presidential seal looks just about perfect,” NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck said.
“Thanks to Biden’s advance team for providing us a glimpse into the future,” blogger and podcast host Vanessa Castro tweeted. “DeSantis speaking in front of the Presidential Seal is a good look.”
“Safe bet we’ll see that again in 2024,” television host Dave Briggs opined.
“DeSantis is president now. That’s how it works,” another Twitter user chimed in.
“Prescient,” wrote another.
“President Ron DeSantis, has a nice ring to it am I right?” another user said.
Meanwhile, DeSantis and Biden struck a note of unity while discussing relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ian Wednesday. Biden, who has a notoriously adversarial relationship with DeSantis and has traded barbs repeatedly with the Republican governor over major policies, praised him for effectively managing the state’s response to the disaster. “What the governor’s done is pretty remarkable,” Biden admitted at the press conference. “I think he’s done a good job.”
It wasn’t all love between the two leaders, however. Later in the press briefing, Biden declared that the debate around climate change was over in the wake of the disaster. “I think the one thing [the hurricane] has ended is the discussion about whether or not there is climate change and we should do something about it.”
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