Is De Santis whitewashing his own name?

[Baitball Blogger]

De Santis has Italian heritage, so I assume the "De" has the same origin as you would find in Spain. "De" is just a word that comes before the family name, like saying "from Santis". Maybe there is more to it, but today, from Mika on Morning Joe, I learned that De Santis pronounces it like the letter "D" and not the usual pronunciation, which would sound more like "Deh." She said that's how he pronounced it in a video.

So, I'm wondering. Is this guy so consumed with stripping any sign of ethnicity, other than Anglo, that he would strip the woke out of his own heritage? Is this a recent affectation? Or is this what he has done from the start?

[Walleye]

1. Maybe he's trying to hide the fact that his ancestors came here long after slavery was abolished

[Meadowoak]

2. He probably just don't like the sound of Duh-Santis, emphasizing the DUH.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. +1

[mitch96]

14. It should be "Di" Santis, the two faced MF'r that he really is...nt

[hlthe2b]

3. If he is, I'd say it is backfiring. Everyone pronounces it like Dee Santis

and so many memes/images come to mind, including photoshops with him as a little girl with bows in his hair and those white boots. I should think that Trump would eat him alive on this one...

[Lovie777]

4. He refuses to "pro-noun" his name....................

he is one sick asshole.

[Omnipresent]

6. Italian?

I could swear, i read somewhere that his name was greek?

[Aviation Pro]

9. Nope, 3rd generation from Cansano, Abruzzo, Italy

East of Rome.

[Aviation Pro]

7. DeSantis should embrace his inner Godfather with the theme from the movie

He certainly sounds like he stuffs his puffy cheeks with cotton.

[FakeNoose]

8. Well his middle initial is actually "D" for Dion

I don't think it's an attempt to Americanize his Italian-sounding name. It's just his Southern accent that clashes with the Italian roots.

And don't believe him for one minute when he tries to talk about his "roots" in western Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio. That's total BS. Ron was born and raised in Florida, and other than college and military he's been there his entire life. Ron's mother and father both came from Italian-immigrant families in western PA (his mom) and northeastern Ohio (his dad). So maybe DeSantis has cousins in OH and PA, I don't know. His roots are all in Florida.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_DeSantis

[Baitball Blogger]

11. True Florida born Floridians don't have Southern accents.

At least, I don't hear it. Southern accents come from North of Jacksonville. Not sure of west of Tallahassee.

[obamanut2012]

15. He doesn't have a Southern accent

Most Floridians, even native ones, do not.

[bucolic_frolic]

10. To match his boots

[Wonder Why]

12. I don't know but the Florida republicans just passed a law saying he can change

his name to Adolf without court approval.

[GreenWave]

13. Finger slurper would be a better name.