![Meatball Ron meatball ron meme](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/043/757/1.jpg)
Meatball Ron
Part of a series on Ron DeSantis. [View Related Entries]
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About
Meatball Ron is a nickname for the current Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis given to him by former President Donald Trump to replace the previous nickname of "DeSanctimonious" ahead of the 2024 political season. Meatball Ron quickly took off on Twitter with people creating memes of Ron DeSantis looking like a Meatball, or comparing him to the character Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Origin
On February 12th, 2023, the New York Times ran a story that indicated while talking to others in casual conversation, Donald Trump referred to Ron DeSantis as "Meatball Ron," causing the nickname to enter into the Twittersphere. Later that day, Twitter user @ABHsLaw[1] uploaded an image of Ron DeSantis wearing his White Boots next to an image of the Green M&M saying that Trump should easily beat "#MeatballRon" (shown below).
![meatball DOG ABH BALLS @ABHsLaw Trump just needs to host one rally in Florida with this image projected into the background to have 2024 straight in the bag #Meatball Ron BANT 5:07 PM - Feb 12, 2023 609 Views E Me โ ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/532/958/e15.png)
Spread
The nickname quickly began to spread online over the next two days, with both sides of the political aisle using it to take shots at DeSantis. For example, on February 12th, 2023, the Twitter account @_Johnnymaga[2] uploaded a photoshopped image of Ron DeSantis eating a meatball sub with marinara sauce dripping off onto his shirt, getting over 12,000 views in two days (shown below).
![meatball JOHNNYMAGA MEATBALL RON](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
On February 13th, 2023, the Twitter user @JohnnyHeatWave[3] uploaded a video of Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force dressed in a pink golf shirt and khakis, with audio from Ron DeSantis being placed on top of it in which DeSantis is talking about his recent challenge to the AP Black History curriculum under the pretense that it was laced with "queer theory" (shown below).
since 'Meatball Ron' is in the news a bit pic.twitter.com/Yz4VnY5nvH
โ John Kerr (@JohnnyHeatWave) February 13, 2023
Anti-Italian Discrimination
While the term "Meatball Ron" continued to gain steam, not everyone was on board with its usage. A growing sentiment began to emerge that by labeling Ron DeSantis, who's Italian, with the moniker of "meatball" constituted an ethnic slur and was akin to being racially biased against him. This sentiment was echoed in memes, mostly using characters from The Sopranos, such as the one tweeted out by Twitter user @MidnightMitch[4] on February 13th, 2023 (shown below).
![italian VEAL CUTLETS IT'S ANTI-ITALIAN DISCRIMINATION. SA](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
Various Examples
![meatball TIME Welcome to the arena MI JULY 2, 2018 time.com](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
![meatball Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski Will Trump lose the Italian-American vote over his "Meatball Ron" nickname for Desantis? Cryptid Politics @Cryptid Politics The "Meatball Ron" nickname that Trump World is running with for @RonDeSantis FL is clearly xenophobic against him as an Italian-American. Isn't that how the game works nowadays? 6:35 PM 2/12/23 13.5K Views 11:44 AM. Feb 13, 2023 138.6K Views ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/532/957/1c8.png)
![meatball twitter & FRYLOCK CARL BRUTANANADILEWSKI MEATBALL MASTER SHAKE PE 2024 TRUMP PUTIฮ MAKE LIBERALS PAY AGAIN !](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
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Top Comments
Gumshoe
Feb 14, 2023 at 06:01PM EST
Geigh Science
Feb 15, 2023 at 07:55AM EST in reply to