Ron DeSantis Stumbles Off Republican Debate Stage in Viral Video

A video showing Ron DeSantis stumbling off the stage during a break in Wednesday night's third Republican presidential debate in Miami, Florida, has gone viral.

The 6-second footage, shared by the PatriotTakes account on X, formerly Twitter, shows the Florida governor briefly losing his footing as he step down from the stage, before regaining his composure. A female voice can be heard asking, "Oh, where's he going?" then making an "Oh" sound after the stumble. The video has been viewed more than 140,000 times, receiving over 340 retweets.

Including DeSantis, five candidates took part in Wednesday's debate, the other four being former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Notably Donald Trump, the strong favorite for the 2024 GOP nomination, chose not to attend, having also skipped the previous two Republican debates. The former president has previously argued there is no need for him to participate in the events due to his poll lead.

DeSantis's debate stumble sparked a mixture of mockery and sympathy from social media users.

Referencing allegations DeSantis has worn heel lifts in his boots to appear taller, which the Republican governor has denied, one X user wrote: "You'd think he'd be used to those heels by now."

A second commented: "It's hard to walk in heels, especially with all those bright lights in your eyes."

However, others were more sympathetic, with one writing: "Wow. Almost like falling is a normal thing that happens to people. Are republicans going to call for his immediate resignation for being physically unfit for office? Let's see."

Newsweek has contacted DeSantis' presidential campaign for comment by email.

The five Republican contenders clashed repeatedly during the Miami debate, with heated exchanges over issues such as federal spending levels and U.S. financial assistance to Ukraine.

At one point Haley called Ramaswamy "scum" during a row over TikTok, the Chinese-owned app which the business tycoon has used in his campaign. After Haley criticized Ramaswamy for using the app, he pointed out that her daughter also has an account, leading the ex-South Carolina governor to fire back, "Leave my daughter out of your voice," before adding, "You're just scum."

In a post-debate interview with NBC Haley continued to attack Ramaswamy, saying: "I don't even give him the time of day. He has proven he's not worthy to be the president of the United States."

Ramaswamy also attracted controversy after describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the democratically elected Jewish leader, as "a Nazi."

He said: "[Ukraine] has celebrated a Nazi in its ranks, the comedian in cargo pants, a man called Zelensky." No evidence was provided to support the assertion that Zelensky is a Nazi, a claim that is frequently made with no basis by Russian state media outlets.

DeSantis, Trump's closest challenger for much of the contest, hit out at the former president over his non-attendance.

"He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance," the Florida governor said.

"He should explain why he didn't have Mexico pay for the border wall. He should explain why he racked up so much debt. He should explain why he didn't drain the swamp. And he said Republicans were going to get tired of winning. Well, we saw last night. I'm sick of Republicans losing."

Republicans suffered a series of electoral defeats across the U.S. on Tuesday, which included Democrats in Virginia seizing control of both of the state's chambers of government, and Ohioans voting to enshrine abortion protections in the state's constitution.