Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman made a wisecrack at Ron DeSantis after being asked if he would vote for the GOP Florida Governor as Secretary of Defense.
"I’ll consider a YES on him if he finally admits to his boots with 4' lifts," Fetterman joked on X (formerly Twitter) accompanied by a screenshot of a news headline stating "Trump may replace Hegseth with DeSantis: WSJ."
The ribbing of DeSantis came after President-elect Donald Trump was reportedly reconsidering his previous nomination for embattled former Fox News host Pete Hegseth after a preliminary evaluation led Republican Senators to oppose selecting him.
Hegseth's history of misogyny, alleged alcohol abuse, and a 2017 sexual assault allegation, which he denied, came to light shortly after Trump announced the former Army National Guard officer as his SD pick, despite Hegseth's lack of experience in global defense.
Fetterman, who is the tallest currently serving Senator at 6'8", repeated the same joke about DeSantis' height Wednesday morning, telling reporters:
"I'm considering voting 'yes' on DeSantis if he finally admits that he has lifts in his boots."
"I'm sure he does. You know, maybe three inches. Four inches at least."
You can watch a clip of his quip here.
The internet got a kick out of Fetterman's jab.
During his failed presidential bid, DeSantis faced swirling internet rumors that he wore lifts in his boots to appear taller, presumably so he could position himself on a less-intimidating playing field against his challenger, then-GOP frontrunner Trump, who is 6'3".
Social media users began ribbing the Florida Governor about his alleged footwear preferences, which he has denied.
However, an expert thought otherwise.
Zephan Parker of Houston's Parker Boot Company surmised that DeSantis wore lifts.
Parker, who claimed he fitted undisclosed Texan politicians with height-increasing cowboy boots told Politico:
"I’ve dealt with these politicians many times."
“I’ve helped them with their lifts. [DeSantis] is wearing lifts; there’s no doubt.”
@jeffgoldesq/X
Parker's assessment stemmed from observing a photo of DeSantis at a campaign event in Tampa.
While traditional Western boots typically have an elevated heel, ranging from 1 1/2” to 1 7/8”, Parker noticed the Governor's heels were shorter, which led the bootmaker to comment that when lifts are inserted into boots, the heels are trimmed down to prevent them from turning into “five-inch stilettos."
Said Parker:
"That’s too much for the common man. So on a ready-made boot, they’ll cut down the heel about half an inch to accommodate the lifts, which looks to be what happened here.”
Here's an example of what Parker may have been referring to in his observation.
@AaronParseghian/X
Regardless of the footwear controversy, Hegseth is not planning to step down any time soon.
He accused Democrats of starting a smear campaign against him.
He wrote on X:
“I’m doing this for the warfighters, not the warmongers. The Left is afraid of disrupters and change agents. They are afraid of @realDonaldTrump—and me."
The former weekend co-host of Fox and Friends added:
“So they smear w/ fake, anonymous sources & BS stories. They don’t want truth. Our warriors never back down, & neither will I.”
