Miami: Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, will launch his bid for the 2024 US presidential election on Wednesday during an online appearance on Twitter with outgoing CEO Elon Musk, according to media reports.
Musk confirmed the development at a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday, reports CNN.
“I will be interviewing Ron DeSantis, and he has quite an announcement to make. And it will be the first time that something like this is happening on social media and with real-time questions and answers, unscripted,” the tech billionaire said, adding that he was not planning to endorse any candidate “at this time”.
The Twitter Spaces conversation between Musk and De Santish will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday and will be moderated by David Sacks — a tech entrepreneur and major political donor who contributed just over $70,000 to the Governor’s political committee in 2021.
Twitter Spaces is a platform that allows “creators” to host live audio conversations that other users can join and engage with.
An official launch video from the DeSantis campaign is expected later the same evening, the BBC reported.
The 44-year-old, who is being viewed as former President Donald Trump’s chief rival for the Republican Party’s nomination, is expected to file paperwork declaring his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission this week, an informed source told CNN.
A formal announcement is planned for next week in his Florida hometown of Dunedin, the source added.
Meanwhile, MAGA Inc. — Trump’s political action committee (PAC) — mocked DeSantis’ decision to announce his bid on Twitter, calling it “one of the most out-of-touch campaign launches in modern history”.
“The only thing less relatable than a niche campaign launch on Twitter is DeSantis’ after party at the uber-elite Four Seasons resort in Miami,” MAGA Inc. said in a statement on Tuesday.
DeSantis’s announcement will end months of speculation about when he would officially declare 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.
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