Ron DeSantis' Pizza Eating Sparks Avalanche of Jokes, Memes: 'Assaults It'

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Ron DeSantis' appearance at a Manhattan restaurant for "Jesse Watters Primetime" on Thursday, where he shared a pizza with the Fox News host, has sparked a series of jokes and memes on social media, with critics mocking the governor for the way he tackled a slice.

DeSantis, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign in May and is considered a clear number two among Republican candidates after Trump, was interviewed by Watters at Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria on 6th Avenue in Manhattan.

During the interview, the two talked about proposed New York City legislation that would require pizza restaurants using coal ovens—like Grimaldi's—to cut their emissions.

Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis appears on "Jesse Watters Primetime" at Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria in Manhattan on June 29, 2023. Critics have mocked the Florida governor for the way he tackled... Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Asked why "does the government do that," DeSantis said that the left "doesn't want people to be happy."

"They just want to control. You have an itch on the left," the Florida governor, who has passed some of the strictest abortion legislation in the country and has led an upswing in banned or restricted books in his and other GOP-led states, added.

"They want to control behavior…They just don't want people to be happy and be able to make their own decisions. They were going after gas stoves in Florida. We made them tax-free. We may have to do some incentives for the coal-fire pizza because you know what? We'll take it," he said.

The interview then cuts to a shot of DeSantis biting into a slice of pizza in a way that many have described as less than elegant.

"This dude doesn't eat food, he assaults it," former federal prosecutor and defense attorney Ron Filipkowski tweeted, sharing an image of the Republican governor biting into a pizza slice.

"I really want to know whose idea it was to try and own the libs by having Jesse Watters interview Desantis in a pizza parlor while eating," he added in a later tweet. "Because, given Neanderthal Ron's well-documented eating habits, that was yet another unforced error."

The word 'Neanderthal' was used by others criticizing DeSantis' way of eating.

"Americans Disgusted After Watching Ron DeSantis Eat Pizza Like a Neanderthal While Asking to Lead the United States," commented one Twitter user.

"Ron DeSantis eats pizza like it's a plate of good ol', delicious, New Jersey Crudité," said another user, referencing a video that was part of Republican nominee Mehmet Oz's Senate campaign in Pennsylvania in November 2022 that was relentlessly mocked for being tone-deaf.

In the video Oz says that his wife needs "some vegetables for crudité" before blaming inflation on President Joe Biden.

Others described the interview at the pizza parlor as "bizarre."

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more