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While he would have been hoping for his performance in the third Republican Primary debate to be the topic of discussion today, it's a different video of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that is grabbing social media users' attentions.

During an appearance on NBC News with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds—who is endorsing the 44-year-old in the race—DeSantis' alleged "snake tongue" stole the show.

"WTF is going on with his snake tongue?" asked X user Ron Filipkowski, who shared a snippet of the interview with NBC correspondent Dasha Burns on November 7.

In the seven-second clip, Burns asks Reynolds about the state of DeSantis' relationship with former President Donald Trump, of whom he was once a supporter but is now a direct rival.

"Well I don't know, I really can't tell you," Reynolds replies. "That's probably a question for him."

The 64-year-old then turns to DeSantis, who giggles with his tongue briefly poking out between his lips. Since being shared, Filipkowski's post has received over 736,000 views and more than 1,000 comments.

"Lizard people are real," commented Bette Dangerous.

"Creepy," said Miss Jillybean.

"That freaked me out," agreed ND Chad.

"He caught a fly," joked @MonitorFake.

"My dog does that when she's nervous," said Bill DeMayo,

"He's the definition of awkward," wrote Kevin Washington, while another added: "Ron DeSantis is a very odd person."

However, others defended DeSantis, with PetalLu writing: "Me thinks it's dry mouth from nervousness."

"Okay. I'm no DeSantis fan but are we really going to stoop so low that we're criticizing someone licking their lips?" said Mage Life. "Are we going to be THOSE people? There are far better things to criticize him over."

Newsweek has reached out to Ron DeSantis for comment via email.

DeSantis announced his run for the Republican presidential nomination in May. He was previously a proud supporter of Trump, before challenging him for the 2024 candidacy.

The pair have since been publicly trading barbs, with DeSantis currently the 77-year-old's biggest rival—although he's still more than 42 points behind Trump in the polls, according to polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight.

As of November 7, the ex-president is polling at 56.5 percent, while DeSantis holds 13.9 percent.

Other candidates to run for Republican presidential nomination include Former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.

DeSantis is known for leading on strict, conservative policies in his home state of Florida, particularly regarding LGBTQ, race and abortion rights. These include the gender-affirming care ban for minors and the "Bathroom bill," which made it illegal for people in Florida to use public bathrooms and changing facilities that don't correlate with their sex at birth.

After Roe V. Wade was overturned in June 2022, Florida enacted a strict abortion ban of six weeks—although it includes exceptions for rape, incest or if the mother's life is at risk—while the Florida Board of Education's African American history standards, approved in 2022, have been accused of watering down slavery and led to backlash from the NAACP and other civil rights groups.

Although his approach has won him fans on the right of the party, many of his policies have struggled to gain traction with mainstream Republicans, while others that may have chosen to vote for him are already aligned with Trump.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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