It wasn't an excellent response. And it wasn't a silly question -- it was a LOADED question.
If someone asked me how to pronounce my name, I would just answer the question directly. Why couldn't DeSantis do this?
Journalists constantly ask people how to pronounce their names. Also true of people who introduce speakers. Ronda should be used to that by now and come up with a definitive answer.
Maybe you don’t have that issue. People ask me that question or some variation all the time as they want to shorten my name. I usually answer, “I’ve been called worse.”