Ron DeSantis announced his campaign for the 2024 US Presidential Elections on Wednesday. After putting out a video on social media, the Florida governor, Elon Musk and David Sacks co-hosted a Twitter Space to elaborate on the former’s vision.
DeSantis will take on former President Donald Trump in the GOP Primaries.
The Florida politician’s campaign announcement video was about 74 seconds long. It showed DeSantis speaking about his apparent success in Florida standing on a stage draped with a large American flag. The 44-year-old wants to become the country’s second-youngest President. John F Kennedy held the post at 43.
In the video, which is centered around the idea of a ‘Great American Comeback’, DeSantis touched on border issues, law and education.
“We chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder. We held the line when freedom hung in the balance. We showed that we can — and must — revitalize America. We need the courage to lead and the strength to win.”
As soon as the video was out, Ron DeSantis joined Twitter boss Elon Musk for a forum.
Also read: Will Ron DeSantis resign as Florida governor after announcing presidential bid?
Twitter Spaces is a feature on the Musk-owned microblogging platform. Users can have live audio conversations – listen and speak. DeSantis’ campaign launch on Wednesday was seen as his move away from mainstream media.
However, the Twitter Space launch did not start well. Musk and the other hosts were late and a long silence followed. There was some random throat clearing, muffled commentary and DeSantis disappearing multiple times before the platform crashed.
Sacks took over as the primary host and they were back again.
The Twitter Space reached about 300,000 live listeners. Most of the speakers were recognized DeSantis supporters – Jay Bhattacharya, Congressman Thomas Massie, Christopher Rufo, BlazeTV’s Steve Deace and former NRA Spokesperson Dana Loesch. Rudy Giuliani was amongst the several Trump allies listening.
Ron DeSantis started off with a lengthy opening statement. Like his announcement video, the Florida governor highlighted his success in the state. The 44-year-old spoke about the ‘woke mind virus’ and ‘wokeness’ while explaining why he deserves to win the election.
David Sacks and Musk dove into free speech, praising DeSantis’ choice of Twitter Spaces for his announcement. The discussion was mostly repetitive thereon.
Biden was criticized for his border policies and COVID response, ‘wokeness’ was discussed, Musk praised and DeSantis made several claims along the lines of ‘there is no substitute for victory. We must look forward, not backward’.
Florida vs Disney, NAACP, digital bill and book ban were other topics DeSantis spoke on. However, he was not asked about Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump trolled DeSantis and co for their ‘broken’ Twitter Space and hashtag #DeSaSter (for disaster) started trending.
Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Four Season Hotel in Miami where the Florida governor launched his campaign. Ron DeSantis finished by saying that he would do a Twitter Space session again.
