On Wednesday (May 24), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) officially announced his entry into the 2024 GOP Presidential primary through a launch fraught with problems.
Hours after filing his nomination papers, DeSantis made his intentions clear by launching an official campaign video on Twitter before conducting a live chat with the social media giant’s owner, Elon Musk.
In the video, DeSantis asserts his campaign will “need the courage to lead and the strength to win,” concluding with the typical campaign declaration and a preview of his campaign slogan: “I’m Ron DeSantis, and I’m running for president to lead our great American comeback.”
The filing and DeSantis’ video announcement confirmed the months of speculation that the Florida Governor was eyeing the Oval Office.
DeSantis’s announcement was also one of the most notable events in the 2024 Republican presidential race since November when former President Donald Trump announced he would seek the party’s nomination again.
But the Florida Governor’s Twitter announcement was riddled with technical glitches, and hundreds of thousands of users tuned in as Musk and the debate’s moderator, tech entrepreneur David Sacks, tried to fix the problems.
At one point, the live show suddenly stopped while music was playing.
One Republican strategist who listened to the show predicted that Trump would use the “elevator music” in his next ad.
The strategist acknowledged that although the Twitter event may “have been a first in social media and American political history,” it was not the best opening for the DeSantis team.
DeSantis’ official entry into the race kicks off a new, more volatile phase of the GOP primary and puts the Florida governor in direct conflict with Trump, who has relentlessly attacked DeSantis for months in hopes of curbing the perceived momentum.
