Quick Take
Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ high school yearbook photo was posted to Reddit by a person claiming to be a former schoolmate. But Instagram posts show an altered version of the yearbook entry that includes a fake quote from DeSantis referencing rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot and Nintendo 64.
Full Story
In April, a Reddit user who said he attended Dunedin High School with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted the 2024 Republican presidential candidate’s yearbook photo online. DeSantis graduated from the school — which is in Dunedin, Florida — in 1997.
Recent social media posts have edited the yearbook entry to include a fabricated quote that is falsely attributed to DeSantis. The bogus quote reads, “My Mount Rushmore is Jesus, Sir-Mixes-a-Lot, and Nintendo 64.”
While online reactions were mixed, some social media users believed the quote to be real.
“Oh my god!! He just got my vote,” a user commented on one of the posts.
A Twitter user, poking fun at the misspelling of popular 1990s rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot’s name, wrote, “‘Sir-Mixes-a-Lot’ should automatically disqualify you from running for office.” The tweet received 3.2 million views.
But the quote did not actually appear beneath DeSantis’ yearbook photo — nor did any quote. A spokesperson for the Pinellas County, Florida, school district told the Associated Press that no student’s yearbook entry included a quote beneath their photo.
This is not the first time that DeSantis’ yearbook photo has been edited to include text. In April, the photo circulated somewhat less widely with the caption, “voted ‘most likely to have his feelings hurt by a cartoon mouse,'” a reference to the governor’s ongoing feud with the Walt Disney Company.
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Sources
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. “DeSantis, Ron.” Accessed 13 Jul 2023.
Barnett, Luke (@LukeBarnett). “‘Sir-Mixes-a-Lot’ should automatically disqualify you from running for office.” Twitter. 9 Jul 2023.
Damnatio__memoriae. “I went to high school with Ronald DeSantis and found my yearbooks.” Reddit. 14 Apr 2023.
Goldin, Melissa. “No, Ron DeSantis’ high school yearbook quote does not mention ‘Sir-Mixes-a-Lot.’” Associated Press. 10 Jul 2023.
@MeachamDr. [No text]. Tweet. 19 Apr 2023.