Ron DeSantis has entered the 2024 presidential race. The Florida governor made his intentions official in a Twitter Space with Elon Musk on Twitter, ending months of speculation about his possible candidacy. Will be the strongest rival against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries, given that he is the only other candidate to perform well in the polls.
The dialogue with the Tesla founder took place on Wednesday, May 24, and was moderated by David Sacks, a major Republican donor very close to Musk.
The connection was a bit bumpy, as the server crashed a couple of times due to the number of people connecting live to hear the announcement. After thirty minutes of uncertainty, they were able to start normally. "The servers are straining somewhat," the mogul slipped when the number of attendees surpassed 700,000.
Without mincing words, DeSantis began with what everyone went to hear and confirmed that he will indeed seek the presidency this year. He harshly criticized Joe Biden and portrayed himself as the leader capable of righting the ship. Among the prominent spectators who joined the Space were politicians and opinion leaders such as Tulsi Gabbard, Rudy Giuliani, Megyn Kelly, Benny Johnson, Liz Wheeler, Liz Wheeler and others.
Although it had been rumored that his campaign would file its papers after the official announcement, they went ahead and did so hours before the virtual event began. The Federal Election Commission has already received DeSantis' announcement: RON DESANTIS FOR PRESIDENT.
The Sunshine State governor will try to convince voters that Trump is part of the party's past, something the Never Back Down PAC hinted at in a recent ad. As seen in the commercial, a man sticks a DeSantis sticker over the former president's, symbolizing a renewal.
A source close to Musk told The Daily Wire that the decision to announce the candidacy via Twitter was made on the assumption that it will "trump the manner in which other candidates have announced because the event will be seen by larger audience."
DeSantis did not enter the race with empty pockets. He has raised more than $110 million, and more major donors are expected to come on board in the coming weeks. The governor is seen as Trump's strongest competitor. Although he does not have the momentum he had months ago, he is the only person who has been able to compete head to head in the polls with the former president.
However, the primaries have shown that polls can change and very quickly. For example, at this point in the 2008 election race, the favorites to win their party's nomination were Hillary Clinton (D) and Rudy Giuliani (R). When all delegates were counted, neither was at the top of the list.
Similar was the situation for the GOP in 2016. In early to mid-2015, it looked like the primary was going to be a neck-and-neck between Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, something that ultimately did not end up happening.
The Florida governor has been teasing his candidacy for months following his successful re-election campaign, in which he handily defeated Charlie Crist. Going from 0.4 percentage point difference in 2018 to nearly 20 points in a state that was presumed "purple" immediately positioned him as a strong candidate heading into 2024
The launch of his autobiography in February and the subsequent press tour was seen as a prelude to what will come to fruition on Wednesday, his presidential campaign. "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival," did big numbers in its first week on the market, surpassing the sales of former candidates such as Hillary Clinton in 2014, Barack Obama in 2007 and even Trump in 2015.
If elected, the former congressman would become the youngest head of state, at the age of 43 years and 236 days, since John F. Kennedy, who was inaugurated in 1961
DeSantis joined the former president, who was already looking forward to it with some hostility, as well as Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, Larry Elder and Tim Scott. Chris Sununu, Mike Pence and Chris Chirstie are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks.
