Ron DeSantis crashed and burned spectacularly in the 2024 presidential race.
His campaign became a case study in political failure after he ran as an awkward robot who couldn't connect with voters.
But one sports post just exposed DeSantis' plan for 2028.
DeSantis suddenly becomes a sports superfan on social media
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants you to know he's a sports guy.
And he's making absolutely sure you notice.
The term-limited Governor has been flooding his social media feed with sports commentary at a pace that would make Stephen A. Smith jealous.
From college football predictions to baseball Hall of Fame debates to NBA analysis, DeSantis is suddenly everywhere with an opinion about the game.
But the timing of this transformation raises serious questions about what he's really up to.
A data analysis from Grok shows DeSantis posted about sports nearly four dozen times between August 28 and November 28.
Compare that to the previous three months where he only posted about sports 18 times.¹
That's not gradual evolution.
That's a calculated strategy shift.
DeSantis has been weighing in on everything from whether Indiana University deserves to be ranked number one to complaining about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game being blacked out.
He even jumped into a debate about whether Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente belongs in the top 15 all-time players.²
"I'm a Navy guy so I win either way," DeSantis told one X user about the Navy versus Florida Atlantic game.³
The Governor's sudden transformation into a sports talking head comes at an interesting time in his political career.
The 2024 disaster DeSantis wants everyone to forget
DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign was an unmitigated catastrophe from start to finish.
His campaign launch on Twitter Spaces crashed repeatedly, delaying his announcement by more than 20 minutes while the platform kept crashing.
Trump mocked his shirt collar. Biden trolled him by tweeting "This link works" with a donation link.⁴
But the technical failures were nothing compared to his image problems.
Media outlets ruthlessly documented DeSantis' "painfully awkward" body language throughout the campaign.
His habit of throwing pens into crowds after signing bills looked comically uncoordinated.
Campaign events featured viral videos of DeSantis laughing "loudly and awkwardly" that drew comparisons to Howard Dean's infamous scream.⁵
The New York Times reported DeSantis used bike racks to separate himself from crowds in Iowa.
Multiple Republican colleagues described him as "a loner" who was constantly on his phone rather than engaging with voters.⁶
Even his own former staffers turned on him.
One told reporters DeSantis would eat "like a starving animal who has never eaten before" as part of a story about his terrible social skills.⁷
Trump branded him with the devastating nickname "Ron DeSanctimonious" and claimed DeSantis "needs a personality transplant, and those are not yet available."
DeSantis suspended his campaign after failing to win a single county in the Iowa caucuses despite spending more than $158 million between his campaign and allied super PAC.
DeSantis' chief of staff urged him to show more personality
The sports posting blitz isn't happening by accident.
POLITICO previously reported that DeSantis' chief of staff James Uthmeier urged him to start showing more of his personal side on social media.
This included posting football prediction videos with his son and other content meant to humanize the Governor.⁸
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins defended the new public image by telling reporters "I think it's a side of him that's always been there, people just didn't get to see it."⁹
But that explanation doesn't hold up under scrutiny.
Mike Elias, a longtime DeSantis friend and former Yale baseball teammate, acknowledged that DeSantis genuinely loves sports.
But even Elias couldn't explain why DeSantis suddenly felt compelled to broadcast that passion so aggressively on social media.
The answer becomes obvious when you look at the political landscape DeSantis faces for 2028.
Vice President JD Vance dominates early 2028 polling with support ranging from 43% to 60% depending on the survey. Secretary of State Marco Rubio polls in single digits.
DeSantis himself registers at just 2% in an Emerson College poll and maxes out around 9% in his best showings.¹⁰
DeSantis tried to downplay 2028 speculation by telling CNN's Jake Tapper "I'm not thinking about anything" when asked about another presidential run.
But he also criticized other potential candidates by taking a shot at "jockeying" for position.¹¹
Translation: He's absolutely thinking about it.
The sports posting serves a dual purpose for DeSantis.
It allows him to connect with male voters who Democrats admit have become toxic to their brand.
And it helps him shed the image of being an awkward, robotic politician who can't relate to normal people.
DeSantis is essentially trying to rebrand himself as "one of the guys" who watches games, has strong opinions about college football rankings, and remembers the glory days when "even someone like Peyton Manning didn't have a chance against UF in Gainesville."¹²
But voters aren't stupid.
They can spot a calculated image makeover from miles away.
Every ambitious Democrat trying to win back men in 2025 is doing the exact same thing DeSantis is attempting.
They're all suddenly discovering their love of sports and posting about games to seem more relatable.
The problem for DeSantis is that authenticity can't be manufactured through social media engagement metrics.
You either have it or you don't.
And DeSantis spent his entire 2024 campaign proving he doesn't have it.
His awkward laugh went viral.
His interactions with voters looked forced.
His campaign became synonymous with cringe-inducing moments and robotic delivery.
Trump and his allies successfully painted DeSantis as fundamentally inauthentic.
No amount of tweets about Roberto Clemente's Hall of Fame credentials will erase that.
DeSantis can post about sports 48 times or 480 times.
It won't matter if voters see through the strategy to what it really represents — a desperate attempt to manufacture the personality he lacked in 2024.
Trump revolutionized politics by being authentically himself at all times, for better or worse. Voters responded to that genuine quality even when they disagreed with him.
DeSantis' carefully choreographed sports commentary tour represents the opposite approach.
It's political consulting 101: test well with focus groups, poll the target demographic, craft the message accordingly.
That might work in a Governor's race.
But presidential campaigns expose phoniness like nothing else.
The irony is that DeSantis genuinely does love sports.
His friend confirmed he's been a sports fan for decades. But the calculated timing and obvious strategic purpose behind the posting blitz undermines any authenticity the content might have had.
When your political advisor has to urge you to "show more of your personal side" and you respond by dramatically increasing your sports posting by 150%, everyone can see the puppeteer pulling the strings.
DeSantis' 2028 strategy is now clear. Flood social media with relatable sports content.
Distance himself from the awkward image that destroyed his 2024 campaign.
Position himself as the personality-driven alternative to the more buttoned-up candidates like Rubio.
But voters already know who Ron DeSantis is.
And 48 posts about college football rankings won't change that.
¹ Adam Wren, "Ron DeSantis wants you to know he's a sports guy," POLITICO, November 29, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ed O'Keefe, "Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential launch plagued by technical issues on Twitter," CBS News, May 25, 2023.
⁵ "Ron DeSantis 2024 campaign: what is happening in these photos?" Slate, May 27, 2023.
⁶ "Ron DeSantis' Aloof Persona, Odd Demands Already Impacting 2024 Race," The Daily Beast, September 8, 2024.
⁷ "How the DeSantis 2024 Campaign Unraveled: Hubris, Infighting, Awkward Moments," Bloomberg, January 22, 2024.
⁸ Wren, "Ron DeSantis wants you to know he's a sports guy."
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ "'Not thinking about anything': Ron DeSantis talks 2028 plans," Florida Politics, November 18, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² "Florida governor Ron DeSantis rips into Gators on social media after blowout loss to Tennessee," A to Z Sports, November 23, 2025.
