But then, in a twist:

DeSantis pronounced it “Deh-Santis” during interviews with Fox News, Glenn Beck, Erick Erickson, and Mark Levin this past week.

And there’s more:

Early in his political career, DeSantis, 44, appeared to use “Dee-Santis” more often—then began a slow and still-incomplete evolution to “Deh-Santis.” During the 2018 race for Florida governor, the candidate and his wife pronounced his name differently in his television ads: He said “Dee-Santis” in his first TV spot, and she said “Deh-Santis” in another. When a reporter noted the differences, a campaign spokesperson at the time said the candidate “prefers ‘Dee-Santis.’” The dueling pronunciations have tripped up others. When DeSantis was sworn in for his second term as governor in January, Florida’s chief justice pronounced his name “Dee-Santis”—and the governor repeated back, “Deh-Santis.”

Asked by Axios for the correct, official pronunciation, DeSantis’s campaign, bizarrely, did not answer—while the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down declined to say. It’s not clear why, but it seems like there’s a strong possibility they don’t actually know, because DeSantis hasn’t decided.

Naturally, the Trump campaign has seized on this as evidence that the governor is unfit for the White House. “Ron DeSantis is a phony who can’t decide how to pronounce his name,” Trump campaign spokesperson told Axios. “If you can’t get your name right, how can you lead a country?” On Thursday, Trump himself declared: