Slate’s homepage editors spend a lot of time looking for photos to put on our site. Those searches sometimes yield unexpected results: random, perplexing, and mesmerizing photos that don’t belong on the homepage, but that are too good not to share. Every week, we’ll share something we’ve found.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially announced his 2024 presidential bid Wednesday on Twitter Spaces. The audio-only livestream, which was plagued by technical glitches, showed that DeSantis’ disembodied voice is not particularly compelling.
DeSantis is not exactly known for his charisma on camera either. I have gotten familiar with the photos of DeSantis in Getty Images as his national profile has grown, and boy, are there some weird photos of him out there. His body language is painfully awkward. He often looks like he is unsure what to do with his arms, and his mannerisms can seem forced and robotic.
Case in point: the many photos of Ron DeSantis throwing pens into crowds. At a typical signing ceremony, the politician signing a bill into law will use a handful of pens to write their signature and then distribute the pens to individuals as commemorative tokens—no flinging required. DeSantis takes a different approach.
In this April 2023 photo from a bill signing in Jerusalem, DeSantis throws pens to members of the press. He stares straight at the camera, making eye contact with the viewer as the Sharpie hurdles through the air. In his left hand, DeSantis holds several blue Sharpies, which seem to be his preferred writing implement—a twist on Donald Trump’s trademark black Sharpie. DeSantis has been called out for copying Trump in the past, such as his imitation of Trump’s distinctive hand gestures in his speeches, and the mimicry apparently extends to pens as well.
In these photos, taken at a September 2020 executive order signing with Trump, DeSantis throws Trump’s custom-made black Sharpies to the crowd. In the close-up shot, DeSantis bites his lower lip in concentration as he placidly smiles. He resembles an impish toddler, pleased at the opportunity to throw something into the air, having only just discovered that he can. Although Trump and DeSantis are now rivals, in these images DeSantis comes across as an eager Trump lackey, doling out the commemorative pens (which retail for $300 online!) like a hype man. A follower doing Trump’s bidding, not a leader in his own right.
The zoomed out photo accentuates the physical awkwardness of this activity. DeSantis is perched at the lip of the stage, bent slightly at the waist, as he fully extends one arm. It appears that his suit is restricting his range of motion, preventing him from striking a more athletic pose as he makes an underhand throw toward the crowd. The pen looks comically small as it sails through the air.
It is hard to look graceful or coordinated while throwing a pen, unlike, say, a baseball, which DeSantis is actually good at! And beyond how weird it looks, DeSantis’ habit, reminiscent of a mascot using a t-shirt cannon at a sporting event, also strikes a strange chord given the extremist content of the legislation at hand. On May 17, DeSantis happily tossed blue Sharpies to the audience after signing a slew of anti-LGBTQ bills into law—a jarring juxtaposition.
As the 2024 presidential race gets underway, I predict there will be more flying Sharpies in our future. Really, all that’s left is for DeSantis to have a #Sharpiegate of his own.
