Fact Check: Was Ron DeSantis a teacher? Ephebophiliaesque meaning explored as Trump post goes viral

Donald Trump recently attacked Ron DeSantis on social media by sarcastically engaging with a post that accused the Florida governor of drinking and hanging out with high school girls during his career as a teacher.

According to The New York Times, DeSantis served as a teacher at the Darlington School in northwest Georgia. The report claimed that many students at the institute allegedly dubbed the politician as “a frequent presence at parties.” A former student allegedly told the publication:

“As an 18-year-old, I remember thinking, ‘What are you doing here, dude?’”

Another report from the Hill Reporter alleged that DeSantis taught at Darlington School back in 2001 when he was around 23 years old. He reportedly bagged the role after completing his bachelor’s degrees in political science and history.

As per Business Insider, Darlington is a boarding school located in Rome, Georgia. Ron DeSantis reportedly taught history and government and coached baseball and football at the institution.

On Tuesday, an old photo of a much-younger DeSantis hanging out and drinking with a few girls resurfaced online. The image was first sent by an anonymous source to the Hill Reporter and Meidas Touch in 2021.

As the photo resurfaced on social media, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to share a post from Twitter user @/Magnanimous who claimed that the picture showed DeSantis allegedly “grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.”

The former president gave a sarcastic reply to the original post and wrote:

“That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”

Trump also shared another post from the same user with a caption that reads “No way!” The original post mentioned that DeSantis’ behavior looked “gross” and “ephebophiliaesque” in nature.

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What is the meaning of the word Ephebophiliaesque?

Ephebophilia is the term used to define a form of p*dophilia where adults show their interest towards teenagers or adolescents generally with the age range of 15 to 19 years.

According to Educalingo, the word falls under the technical term chronophilia and was originally used in the late 19th to mid 20th-century to describe preference towards mid-to-late adolescent partners.

Therefore, the word “Ephebophilia-esque” refers to the kind of behavior that is similar to Ephebophilia.

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Twitter reacts to Donald Trump’s post about Ron DeSantis

Donald Trump's Truth Social post attacking Ron DeSantis went viral online (Image via Getty Images)

Donald Trump has continued to attack his Republican rival Ron DeSantis on social media ahead of the 2024 Republican primary showdown.

The former U.S. president has called DeSantis a “globalist” and a friend to Jeb Bush and said that he should be grateful to Trump for helping him secure his 2018 gubernatorial win.

More recently, Trump took to Truth Social to share posts that accused Ron DeSantis of hanging out and sharing alcohol with teenage high school students during his time as a teacher.

As the claims went viral online, several social media users took to Twitter to react to Trump’s posts:

As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if Ron DeSantis will address the claims made against him and respond to Donald Trump’s posts in the days to come.