A former U.S. Navy pilot is calling out Ron DeSantis for his new “Top Gun”-themed campaign ad in which the Republican Florida governor calls himself “Top Gov.”

“It’s not just cringey,” said Ken Harbaugh. “It’s literally Navy pilot cosplay.”

In the widely mocked ad, DeSantis donned aviator shades and a bomber jacket and plopped into what appeared to be the pilot’s seat of a fighter jet as he talked about taking on the “corporate media.”....

He added:

“This tough guy act is pathetic, especially from someone like Ron DeSantis. This campaign ad from Ron DeSantis is just one more example of a Republican politician appropriating the honor of others because he has none.”

Harbaugh concluded by giving DeSantis a new callsign: Wedge or “the simplest tool known to man.”

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Clearly, what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was going for was a comparison to Tom Cruise.

Hence the “Top Gov” label at the beginning of his latest political ad, which resembles that of Cruise’s “Top Gun” movies, and the slo-mo shots of the Republican governor zipping up a flight suit over an energetic guitar music track. DeSantis “briefs” an out-of-view team — presumably Florida voters — about the “rules of engagement” for “dogfighting” with the “corporate media.” At one point, he sits in the cockpit of what appears to be a fighter jet, flight helmet on, and says, “Alright, ladies and gentlemen.”

What are DeSantis and his team getting instead? Comparisons to Michael Dukakis, the Massachusetts governor who made one of the most-mocked campaign photo ops in modern political history while running for president in 1988.....

So, seeking to bolster his national security chops, Dukakis gave a speech at an M1 Abrams tank manufacturing plant in Sterling Heights, Mich.

“Somebody had the not great idea of putting my dad in a tank,” said John Dukakis, the candidate’s son, in the documentary. “With a helmet, of course, because you can’t ride a tank without a helmet.”

So, seeking to bolster his national security chops, Dukakis gave a speech at an M1 Abrams tank manufacturing plant in Sterling Heights, Mich.

“Somebody had the not great idea of putting my dad in a tank,” said John Dukakis, the candidate’s son, in the documentary. “With a helmet, of course, because you can’t ride a tank without a helmet.”