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. NBC News was the first to report the plans.
The event on Twitter Spaces, scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern, risks a rollout that is expected to be carefully crafted and ensures that Mr. DeSantis’s first impression as a presidential candidate will be that he is joining Mr Musk. an eccentric businessman who is sometimes ranked as the world’s richest man.
One of the challenges for Mr. DeSantis entering the 2024 race is the battle for attention with Mr. Trump, who has shown a knack for claiming the limelight for decades. Mr Trump’s aides have indicated for months that he intends to return to Twitter sooner rather than later. Mr. Musk already lifted the ban imposed on the former president when Twitter was still a publicly traded company.
In addition to his Twitter event, Mr. DeSantis is expected to appear on Fox News Wednesday night in an interview with Trey Gowdy, a former South Carolina congressman, the network said. The governor also gathered donors at the Four Seasons in Miami on Wednesday to raise money for his campaign.
A super PAC backing Mr. Trump mocked the plans.
“This is one of the most out-of-touch campaign launches in modern history,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Make America Great Again, the pro-Trump group. “The only thing less recognizable than the launch of a niche campaign on Twitter is DeSantis’ after-party at Miami’s ultra-elite Four Seasons resort.”
Mr. Musk said at an event with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that he was not formally backing his support behind Mr. DeSantis or any other Republican. On Monday, he retweeted video of the presidential kickoff event for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, another Republican contender.
Under Mr. Musk, Twitter has cultivated a more Republican audience. This month, Tucker Carlson, the fired former Fox News star, announced he would be hosting his popular show on Twitter.
The DeSantis event with Mr. Musk will be moderated by David Sacks, a Republican donor who is a supporter of the governor and close to Mr. Musk. Mr. Sacks, a technology entrepreneur and investor, donated $50,000 to Mr. DeSantis’ state political committee in the run-up to his reelection, campaign finance records show. He has spoken positively about the governor’s handling of Florida’s coronavirus pandemic. “He was the first governor to stop these insane lockdowns,” said Mr. Sacks said on Bloomberg TV in 2021. “I respect that.”
In choosing Spaces, Mr. DeSantis is relying on an audio-only streaming tool with a history of bugs and failures. Mr. Musk has used the feature regularly in the six months since buying Twitter for $44 billion in October, appearing on Spaces to talk about the state of his various businesses and giving interviews, which drew tens of thousands of listeners.
Mr Musk has 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 Tesla, its electric car company. The billionaire has said it is difficult for Mr Biden to keep in touch with voters at age 80.
When asked about Mr Biden in an interview on CNBC last week, Mr Musk said he just wanted “a normal person” to run the country.
“It’s not just a question of: Do they share your beliefs?” he said. “But are they good at getting things done?”
While Musk called himself a moderate and has historically donated relatively small amounts of money to both Republicans and Democrats, 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 attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former chairman Nancy Pelosi.
Mr. Musk has expressed his support for Mr. DeSantis, including last July when he tweeted that Florida’s governor would “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 year’s election.
Last summer, when Mr. DeSantis was asked about the possible support of Mr. Musk, the Governor of Florida cracked: “I welcome support from African Americans. What can I say?” (Mr. Musk is white and from South Africa.)
In Florida, Mr. DeSantis supported legislation that, in his words, is designed to protect people from “Silicon Valley elites.” He has also criticized tech companies for their efforts to remove disinformation from their platforms, which he has likened to an attack on freedom of speech and truth undertaken in conjunction with government officials.
“You’ve seen how the administrative state colluded with Big Tech to censor truthful information, whether it’s people attacking Covid lockdowns, whether they’re questioning the effectiveness of masks or school closures,” Mr DeSantis said in a speech in April to the Conservative Heritage Foundation. “There was a concerted effort for Big Tech companies to do what the government should never do directly.”
On Tuesday night, the governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, tweeted a video of Mr. DeSantis preparing to walk on stage – clearly foreshadowing his upcoming announcement. “They call it faith because in the face of darkness you can see that brighter future,” says one narrator. The video asks supporters to text a phone number for more information.
“Thank you for subscribing to receive text messages from Ron DeSantis for President,” the automatic reply reads. “Pre-launch status: PENDING.”
