Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke July 11, 2023

Baby got bad info: Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t misspell Sir Mix-a-Lot’s name in his yearbook

If Your Time is short

  • This quote doesn’t appear in the Dunedin High School yearbook, according to Pinellas County Schools.
See the sources for this fact-check

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attended Dunedin High School, but an image of his yearbook photo that’s spreading on social media has been altered to appear as if the then-teenager misspelled a popular rapper’s name. 

"My Mount Rushmore is Jesus, Sir-Mixes-a-Lot, and Nintendo 64," reads the quote under a photo of DeSantis, apparently referring to rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot.

Instagram posts sharing the image were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Sean Clark, a spokesperson for Pinellas County Schools, the district that includes Dunedin High School, told PolitiFact in an email that although the image of DeSantis is authentic and from the Dunedin High School yearbook, "there is no quote within the yearbook photo beneath Gov. Desantis’s photo nor any other student within the yearbook."

Featured Fact-check

Another version of this yearbook photo, posted on Reddit in April by someone claiming to have attended high school with DeSantis, does not include the quote. 

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

We rate claims that this is an authentic quote False.

 

Read About Our Process

The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter

Our Sources

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Ciara O'Rourke

Baby got bad info: Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t misspell Sir Mix-a-Lot’s name in his yearbook

Load more

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up