DeSantis will announce 2024 Run on Twitter with Elon Musk
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to announce the start of his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday in a live audio call on Twitter with Elon Musk, the platform’s polarizing owner, according to people with knowledge of his plans.
Mr. DeSantis’ participation in the Republican primary against former President Donald J. Trump was widely expected, but the decision to do so with Mr. Musk adds an element of surprise and gives Mr. DeSantis access to a large audience online.
The event on Twitter Spaces is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern. DeSantis is expected to later appear on Fox News in an interview with Trey Gowdy, a former South Carolina congressman, according to the network.
Musk appeared to confirm the news by retweeting on Tuesday a Fox News reporter who had shared news of the planned Twitter Space with Mr. DeSantis. The governor also gathered donors at the Four Seasons in Miami on Wednesday.
The conversation with Mr. Musk will be moderated by David Sacks, a Republican donor who is a DeSantis supporter and close to Mr. Musk.
Mr Musk said he voted for President Biden in the 2020 election but has since been critical of him and his administration, which has a frosty relationship with its electric car maker, Tesla. The billionaire has said it was difficult for Mr Biden to keep in touch with voters at age 80.
While Musk has called himself a moderate who has voted for the Democrats in the past, he has shifted his support to the right in recent years. On Twitter, he has engaged in and shared right-wing conspiracy theories, including one about the October assassination attempt on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former chairman Nancy Pelosi.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Mr. Musk called the Democratic Party one of the “division & hatredand said he would vote for Republican candidates. The everyday beast later reported that Mr. Musk did not vote during the midterm elections.
Mr. Musk has not been shy about showing his support for Mr. DeSantis, and did so several times last year. In July, Tesla’s CEO and Twitter owner tweeted that the governor of Florida “win easilywhen compared to Mr. Biden in 2024. And in November he answered affirmatively when asked by a Twitter user if he would support Mr. DeSantis in that election.
Last summer, when Mr. DeSantis was asked about the possible support of Mr. Musk, the governor of Florida cracked: “I welcome the support of African Americans, what can I say?” (Mr. Musk is white and from South Africa.)