Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has yet to confirm whether he intends to run for President in 2024 – but his wife Casey made sure to prove her potential as a First Lady at his inauguration today, when she took some very clear sartorial inspiration from former Presidents’ wives Jackie Kennedy and Melania Trump.
The 46-year-old mother-of-three to two-year-old Mamie, four-year-old Mason and five-year-old Madison channeled the regal glamor of Jackie with her perfectly coiffed updo as she led out her brood of children.
Meanwhile her classy choice of ensemble – which was centered around a $2,600 pale green caped dress from Alex Perry and featured elegant white gloves – was remarkably similar to outfits previously worn by both Melania and Jackie during their husbands’ time in office.
Casey then topped off the look with silver hooped earrings and a pair of timeless cream pumps at her husband’s inauguration at the Old Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida.
Casey DeSantis has stunned in a green cape dress at her husband Ron’s inauguration as he was sworn in as governor of Florida for a second term
She sits next to her two children Mason and Madison. Her husband, Ron, is on the far right
Ron has so far refused to say whether he would run for the presidency, choosing instead to focus on the run for the Governor’s Mansion.
But former colleagues of Casey’s at local station WJXT told Vanity Fair earlier this year: ‘I remember I once said [to a colleague], ‘Casey wants to be a senator’s wife.’ And he said, ‘No, she fully intends on being a president’s wife’.’
Casey follows in the fashion footsteps of modern female royals such as Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and Queen Letizia of Spain who have all donned the cape dress themselves in a range of shades and iterations.
The refined simplicity of the dress and look were also reminiscent of screen icon Audrey Hepburn who was known for her understated style that accentuated her petite frame. Casey’s swept-back hair is similar to the hair style favored by Audrey and the dress silhouette cinched in to flatter her waist.
Casey’s husband Ron opted for a classic navy suit for his big day, sporting a light blue tie, coordinating with his mini-me son, Mason.
Meanwhile, their daughters – Mamie and Madison – were adorable in navy blue dresses paired with white scalloped-collared, long-sleeved blouses.
Their hair was styled in a half-up-half-down ponytails, finished off with white ribbons.
Casey’s former colleagues have reportedly said she’s gunning for the White House. She’s pictured left and on the right is Jackie Kennedy wearing a green dress and white gloves
The refined simplicity of the dress and look were also reminiscent of screen icon Audrey Hepburn
Jackie was always the epitome of glamor. She’s pictured left in white gloves in 1963 and on the right with John F. Kennedy in 1962 in a cape
Ron, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, was sworn in to a second term Tuesday, saying freedom lives in Florida.
Ron defeated Democrat Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor and Democratic congressman, by more than 29 percentage points in November.
It was a huge blowout in a state known for close elections, and other Republicans on the statewide ballot won by similar margins.
Ron was born in Jacksonville, and boasts an impressive education pedigree with degrees from both Yale and Harvard Law – even captaining the former’s baseball team.
From Harvard, he enlisted in the Navy, where he was quickly assigned to its famed legal faction, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), and worked with detainees at Guantanamo Bay and as a legal aide for Navy SEALS in Iraq.
Speaking to the The New Yorker, a friend said that Ron, still a law student at Harvard, was inspired to join the Navy after watching A Few Good Men, in which Tom Cruise plays a JAG lawyer.
Ron left the service in 2010, and married Casey, who was then a local TV newscaster called ‘one of the most recognizable faces on Jacksonville television,’ within a year of meeting her on a golf driving range at a white wedding at Disney World, Orlando.
It was a storybook union, sealed in a place where fairy tales are the currency, and within 12 years, they would be the Republican golden couple.
Casey (left) also channeled Melania (right) who wore pastel and gloves for husband Donald’s inauguration in 2017
Casey holds a bible as her husband is sworn into office with little Mason standing in front of her
Melania holds the bible as her husband is sworn into office on January 20, 2017
The DeSantis family waves at the crowd as they emerge from the Old Capitol
Along with their three young children, they have been described as a family ‘ready-made for a political campaign brochure.’
Insiders say it is Casey, who molded her husband’s fortunes. She is, according to those in the know, widely recognized as his closest advisor and confidante, a de facto member of his staff and a driving force behind his success whose influence has been compared to that of Nancy Reagan over her husband.
It is Casey, they say, who pushed his meteoric rise and used her media training to polish his image for the national stage.
The ex-journalist is the ’emotional tuning fork’ who softens a man that ex-staff have described as a ‘bully’ with ‘the personality of a piece of paper,’ insiders close to DeSantis’s office told Vanity Fair in November last year.
Despite a public battle with cancer that went into remission in March, Casey has remained as hands-on as ever, attending almost all of her husband’s campaign events and even answering his emails.
Polished and articulate, the potential first lady has spearhead several fundraising efforts for her husband, for causes ranging from cancer research and recovery efforts for Hurricane Ian.
Their joint ambition and drive, combined with talk from pundits that 2024 will be their year has certainly rankled the 44-year-old Florida Governor’s old mentor-turned-frenemy Donald Trump who is himself hinting heavily at another run.
Among his attacks on a man he recently dubbed ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’, the ex-President hinted he would be quick to go on the attack against his friend-turned-foe.
In an interview with DailyMail.com on Trump Force One on Monday night, Trump said: ‘I don’t know if DeSantis is going to run… But if he did run I could tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him other than perhaps his wife. Even Trump went on to describe Casey as the one ‘who’s really running his (DeSantis’) campaign.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk