Ron DeSantis to launch 2024 presidential bid on Twitter
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his bid for the presidency in 2024 during an online event with Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
Mr. Musk will host a Twitter Spaces discussion with Mr. DeSantis, at 18:00 local (22:00 GMT).
A video launching the DeSantis Campaign is expected to be released later that evening.
Mr. DeSantis is considered to be the main rival of former President Donald Trump for the Republican Party nomination.
The governor has joined a list of candidates who are trying to unseat Donald Trump, the current leader in national polls by over 30 points.
In a series of primary elections starting in February, Republican voters will choose the candidate who will compete against Democrat President Joe Biden in the general election in November 2024.
Twitter Spaces is a platform that allows “creators” to host live audio conversations that other Twitter users can join and engage with.
The event on Wednesday will be moderated by David Sacks a close friend of Tesla’s founder, and also a supporter of Mr. DeSantis.
Musk retweeted a Fox News tweet on the upcoming “interview” for Twitter Spaces to his 140,000,000 followers on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear whether the two plan to appear together in person and whether Mr. Musk is showing support for the Floridian’s campaign by hosting the launch on his platform…
At a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) event earlier, Mr. Musk claimed the occasion will mark “the very first time” such an announcement takes place on social media.
He told attendees that he was not planning to make an endorsement but wanted to use Twitter as a public town square.
The tech mogul has previously expressed support for Mr. DeSantis in 2024, including writing on Twitter last November that his preference is for “someone sensible and centrist”.
Mr DeSantis’s announcement will come on the first day of a fundraising retreat in Miami where his supporters will reportedly be briefed about the upcoming campaign.
It will end months of speculation about when Mr. DeSantis will officially announce his candidacy.
His tenure as Florida’s governor has seen the state expand gun-ownership laws, implement restrictions on sex and gender identity education in public schools, and bring in new limits on abortion.
Over the coming months, he is expected to pitch himself as an accomplished politician with a long list of conservative policy achievements and without the “daily drama” of Mr. Trump.
Earlier this month, he aimed thinly veiled criticism at the former president, saying that governing is not about “building a brand or talking on social media”.
Mr. Trump is no longer an active user of Twitter, although his account was re-instated in November after it was removed in the wake of the 6 January riots at the US Capitol.
Instead, Mr. Trump uses his own platform, Truth Social, where he has frequently launched broadsides against Mr. DeSantis.
Twitter has significantly more active users than Truth Social, potentially giving the DeSantis campaign an opportunity for more publicity.
It will also give him the ear of Mr. Musk’s large fan base.
