[ad_1]
By Holly Honderich, BBC News, Washington, DC, May 24, 2023, 19:41 GMT
Updated 16 minutes ago
Image source, Getty Images
photo caption,
DeSantis joins a growing number of Republicans challenging Mr. Trump for the Republican nomination
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis launched his bid for the White House in a conversation with Twitter boss Elon Musk.
The Florida governor and Mr. Musk set up an interview on Twitter Spaces, a live audio discussion platform.
But the discussion, scheduled for 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT), was interrupted before DeSantis could say a word.
Approximately 20 minutes of technical glitches followed, before the exchange began.
“I am running for President of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” Mr. DeSantis said once the voice settled.
And DeSantis quickly shifted the conversation to his conservative credentials, pointing to his handling of the Covid-19 crisis in his state — an anti-lockdown approach that many Republicans have praised. He defended his reforms to Florida’s education system, saying his state “chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, and law and order over riot and chaos.”
The discussion also featured seemingly unorthodox topics, including access to Bitcoin, with much of the airtime devoted to Mr. Musk and Twitter’s successes.
By the time he started talking in earnest, hundreds of thousands of Twitter users had left the platform. Since Mr. Musk took control of Twitter in October, he has laid off thousands of employees, including engineers responsible for the site’s operations and technical troubleshooting.
Twitter Spaces is a platform that allows Creators to host live audio chats that other Twitter users can join and interact with.
DeSantis confirmed he would seek the Republican presidential nomination earlier Wednesday, registering with the Federal Election Commission before releasing a stylized announcement video.
In the video, he says, “Our borders are a disaster, crime invades our cities…and the president falters.” “But regression is a choice, success is achievable, and freedom is worth fighting for.”
The Florida governor is seen as the main challenger to former President Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee in the 2024 general election.
He joins a growing list of contenders seeking to unseat Trump, who leads the Republican arena by more than 30 points in national polls.
Trump and his campaign greeted DeSantis’ official arrival in the 2024 field with a barrage of emails and posts to Truth Social, the former president’s social media platform.
Shortly after the governor told Musk he would study the US Constitution “to see what buttons I can press” to invoke the executive branch, Trump issued a statement directly addressing Mr. DeSantis.
“Rob, my red button is bigger, better, stronger, and works (Truth!), your button doesn’t work! (Based on my conversation with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, soon to be my friend!) Trump wrote.
Through a lengthy primary process starting early next year, Republican voters will decide who will take on Democratic President Joe Biden, in the November 2024 general election.
Mr. DeSantis is a relative newcomer to American politics, first being elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. And only six years later in 2018 – after a failed bid to become a senator – was he elected governor.
He has oversaw the passage of high-profile laws that make it easier to own a gun, restrict sexual and gender identity education in schools, and limit access to abortion. He claimed that this “Florida blueprint” could serve as a guide for federal policies, one that would move the United States in a sharply conservative direction.
Florida’s recent legislative session removed a potential “resign to run” hurdle to Mr DeSantis’ candidacy after he passed a bill ensuring he would not have to leave the governor’s mansion to run for president.
DeSantis will also benefit from a massive war chest. At the end of last month he had $88m (£71m) in a fund left over from his re-election campaign in Florida that could be funneled into the White House bid.
explain video,
Watch: Five Things to Know About Ron DeSantis
He also reportedly has about $30 million controlled by an independent commission that his allies can use to support his campaign.
By contrast, Trump reported $18.8 million in fundraising during the first three months of 2023.
DeSantis is expected to tap Genera Peck to serve as his campaign manager. DeSantis’ chief political advisor, Ms. Beck, led the day-to-day operations of the governor’s 2022 re-election campaign, leading him to a nearly 20-point victory.
And hiring is already underway for DeSantis campaign bases in at least 18 states, according to a report from the Associated Press and The New York Times.
|
Sources 2/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65703031.amp The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
[ad_2]