The Relationship Test Ron DeSantis Put Girls Through In College Was A Massive Red Flag

Though not as overtly eccentric as Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is no less immune to scrutiny regarding some of his more questionable habits and behavior. Some certainly think that DeSantis shares in Trump's well-documented insecurity, given the rampant rumors that DeSantis wears lifted cowboy boots to make himself appear taller, thus turning the governor's fashion choices into an internet punchline. DeSantis denied those rumors in 2023, but if those boots were made for walking, then DeSantis was allegedly also a walking red flag during his college dating days.

Author Charles Finch, who attended Yale with DeSantis, recalled in his 2021 memoir "What Just Happened: Notes on a Long Year" (per the Financial Times) that the future governor had a bizarre "test" that he would give to women he went out with. Citing an apparent mutual friend, Finch claimed that when DeSantis took a female classmate on a date, he would tell them that he likes Thai food, though would intentionally mispronounce the word "Thai" as "thigh" to see if they corrected him or not. If they did, he would invoke Barney Stinson's "Lemon Law" and bail on the date. As Finch put it in his book, DeSantis "didn't want a girlfriend who corrected him."

To be fair, he was a much younger man then, and many of DeSantis' supporters were quick to dismiss the whole thing. Others, however, believe that it still offers some insight into how DeSantis operates. "It's a small but striking detail," journalist Alec MacGillis wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in 2022.

If Charles Finch's information regarding Ron DeSantis' college dating habits is accurate, it safe to say that a lot of the young ladies attending Yale at the time dodged what would have certainly been a frustrating relationship. And it also comes as no surprise that Ron didn't meet eventual wife Casey DeSantis until several years after he had already graduated from Yale. That being said, Ron and Casey's marriage is kind of strange in its own right. For instance, while Ron allegedly didn't want his college dates correcting him on how to pronounce the word "Thai," he was apparently happy to let Casey correct him on the pronunciation of his own last name.

For much of his life, including his early political career, Ron pronounced his surname "Dee-Santis." Around 2023, however, he slowly but surely started pronouncing it "Duh-Santis." And according to a piece published by Politico that year, the shift might have actually been Casey's doing, as she appeared to favor the later pronunciation, with Ron following suit. But while we love a bit of growth, it seems that old habits die hard, as Ron did go back and forth a bit regarding how he said his name. To make matters weirder, when asked point-blank by journalist Paul Steinhauser to clarify what he should be called, the governor indignantly dodged the question (via X). As The Young Turks speculated at the time, "He's pushing back against that [Politico] article and being, 'Oh yeah?! No, I'm in charge! My wife's not in charge!"