DeSantis will announce his presidential candidacy on Wednesday during an exchange with Musk

May 23, 2023

Republican Ron DeSantis will announce his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential election on Wednesday during a live Twitter chat with Elon Musk, a source close to AFP told AFP on Tuesday.

This information was quickly confirmed by the boss of the social network. “I’m going to interview Ron DeSantis and he has a hell of an announcement to make,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The conversation between the two men is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Washington time (22:00 GMT), and will be moderated by Republican businessman David Sacks.

The 44-year-old governor of Florida is seen as Donald Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination.

This former naval officer was narrowly elected in 2018 to head Florida, in the southeastern United States, after receiving the support of Mr. Trump, then in the White House.

He has since distanced himself from the billionaire and gained popularity by multiplying ultra-conservative outbursts on education or immigration – in the name of a battle against the supposed “good-thinking” .

But Ron DeSantis’ path to the White House is strewn with pitfalls.

The governor, in whom many conservatives had placed their hopes for the presidential election after his triumphant re-election in Florida in November 2022, is seriously behind Donald Trump – officially a candidate since November 16, 2022 – according to numerous surveys of opinion.

His main handicap? A lack of charisma, pointed from all sides.

Its ad format has also been strongly mocked in the entourage of Donald Trump. “Announcing his candidacy on Twitter is perfect for DeSantis. That way he doesn’t need to interact with anyone,” quipped one of his advisers to AFP.

Surrounded by judicial investigations, Donald Trump continues to denounce a “witch hunt” – a rallying cry for his base, which remains largely loyal to him – and threw himself headlong into his second race for the White House.

The former occupant of the White House boasts of having raised several million dollars after his historic indictment on April 4 by a New York court, which was the subject of dizzying media attention.

In this face-to-face with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis can however count on an imposing war chest of 110 million dollars in which he intends to draw to try to catch up by flooding the country with commercials.

In a recent video from his political action committee, a man puts a “DeSantis president” sticker to cover a “Trump 2016” on a car.

This is a summary of the message that the governor wants to convey to voters: facing the 76-year-old billionaire, Ron DeSantis claims to embody the new guard.

Both men are the two favorites for the Republican nomination.

The other declared Republican candidates – Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson – rarely exceed 5% of voting intentions so far.

The battle promises to be bitter. The hostilities between the two men began long before the governor of Florida descended into the arena, with acid statements and meetings interposed.

The candidate chosen by the Republican camp after the primaries will face in November 2024 the one nominated by the Democratic Party.

President Joe Biden is running for re-election. Best-selling author Marianne Williamson and a “JFK” nephew, Robert Kennedy Junior, have also entered the race for the Democratic nomination, but their chances seem extremely slim.