Ron DeSantis birthday card advertisement goes up in flames

The flagging presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis thought it was a good idea to pay for an ad on X, formerly known as Twitter, encouraging people to wish the Florida governor a happy birthday next Thursday.

The ad comes in the form of a tweet from Casey DeSantis, Ron DeSantis’ wife, and says, “Wish Ron DeSantis Happy Birthday!”

There’s a photo of a smiling DeSantis and his family.

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Well, users had wishes for DeSantis, all right, and they weren’t shy about expressing them.

A sampling:

• “This card is brought to you by the letters G F & Y” above a Sesame Street gif.

• Six puke emojis.

• “This is soo lame.”

• “Right after I sign the one for Benito Mussolini.”

• A gif of thick brown sludge coming out of a pipe.

• “Two words, one finger.”

• “I doubt you would want him to read what the overwhelming majority of us would write.”

• “I’ll go as far as to say I hope he has a SAD birthday!”

• “I would rather saw my arm off with a rusty saw.”

• “I’m here for the ratio” with two crying laughing emojis. (Comments — 1,385 in all, as of Friday afternoon — were indeed overwhelmingly negative.)

The DeSantis campaign’s birthday card ad is the latest variation on what’s become one of the most clichéd come-ons in digital political advertising, used by prominent Republicans and Democrats alike to collect supporters' personal information and prod them for money.

Those who click on the DeSantis ad, which does not appear publicly on Casey DeSantis’ X feed, receive a form to fill in their name, email and phone number — along with a countdown clock showing (down to the second!) how long it is until DeSantis’ birthday.

If you provide a phone number and click the “Sign His Card” button, the fine print says you consent to his robocalls and texts.

Whoever goes that far received a thank-you message for signing the card — and a pitch for a campaign donation, with suggested contributions ranging from $20.24 to $6,600.

“Thanks for signing his card!” it says. “We can’t wait to show him how many Americans are standing beside him.”

In the meantime, six days before DeSantis’ birthday, many Americans have used this opportunity to laugh at him.

Former President Donald Trump continues to laugh, too, as he remains at least 35 percentage points ahead of DeSantis in most recent national polls for the 2024 Republican presidential primary.