It’s always been a rite of passage for any politician hoping to become president to make a pilgrimage to Iowa in the dead of winter. And Ron DeSantis was no exception this weekend when he began that journey in Davenport, IA – one of the towns straddling the Mississippi River comprising the Quad-Cities (Moline & Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport & Bettendorf in Iowa). That’s where I grew up.
[SIDEBAR: Moline is the corporate headquarters of John Deere.]
DeSantis was hoping to get a warm welcome, and it seems the right-wing GQP base accommodated him. As we all are familiar with, part of that presidential campaign ritual requires candidates to mingle with the crowd and press the flesh of the attendees. And Ronnie was no exception.
On that cold February Saturday, DeSantis accompanied by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was absolutely delighted when an attendee gifted both of them with handcrafted snowflake silhouettes. They giddily grinned from ear-to-ear for the cameras while displaying their bespoke snowflakes.
But as the saying goes: The Devil is in the details.
If you look closely at the snowflake, you’ll note the mastermind creator has craftily and cryptically embedded mirror images of the word “FASCIST” that form each of the snowflake’s six dendrites.
This incomparable trolling became an instant viral sensation in the Twitterverse when someone with the nom de plume “MidlifeMisfit” or “IowaCaptive” (not sure how Twitter handles handles) Tweeted out the first photo – which has now garnered over 1.4 MILLION views!
My friend makes snowflakes to give to politicians who come to Iowa – there are special messages for odious Republicans- please look at the snowflake carefully 🤣😉 pic.twitter.com/Iilha9Wxn1
— IowaCaptive (@MidlifeMisfit) March 10, 2023
It got even wider coverage when Washington Post reporter Steve Goffman joined in the fun of sharing this masterpiece – gaining over 2.7 MILLION views!
At a Republican political rally in Davenport, Iowa today someone gave @GovRonDeSantis and @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds a handmade “snowflake” with the word "Fascist" secretly embedded in it. pic.twitter.com/as8UN3WRsp
— Steven Goffman (@SteveGoffman) March 11, 2023
I’ve put together a handy-dandy GIF of the pics I’ve seen of it for your viewing pleasure:
And someone at TikTok created a cute snow globe version of Ronnie enjoying his custom craft snowflake:
I haven’t found any identifying information WRT the lady in glasses who posed with DeSantis and Reynolds for the photos. She could be the creator – but I just don’t know. Then again, she might have decided to remain anonymous. (And given the type of people the GQP draws, that’s probably a wise decision.)
But I am hoping to see some T-shirts that incorporate her clever “Fascist Snowflake” theme – especially because it’s so fitting. Hell, even I threw together a mockup for a book cover that I’d likely buy:
In all honesty, Ronnie is a fascist at heart, and he truly frightens me. But in the meantime – let the fun begin!
