(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) The GOP 2024 presidential primary is slated to get a shakeup Wednesday, when Ron DeSantis is expected to officially toss his hat into the ring, launching him to the forefront of a pack of contenders challenging former President Donald Trump.
The popular Florida governor, who has won kudos and praise from conservatives for his fight against a leftist woke agenda, intends to launch his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday in an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
DeSantis’s wife, Casey, teased the campaign launch on Twitter, linking to a Fox News article about the pending announcement and writing “Big if true…,” while adding a smiley face. In another post, she unveiled what appeared to be the campaign’s theme video.
America is worth the fight… Every. Single. Time. pic.twitter.com/lWNQ3DIXgp
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) May 23, 2023
In a foreshadowing of what is widely expected to be a grueling campaign against Trump, a supporter of the former president unveiled his own re-make of the DeSantis launch video.
It’s the Desantis ad but I made it cool pic.twitter.com/UDJDxz1ng1
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 24, 2023
Battle lines are about to get serious and allegiances, to both DeSantis and Trump, will be tested, wrote Rogan O’Handley.
“A whole bunch of MAGA influencers who wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Donald Trump are about to show their true colors now that Ron DeSantis is announcing his candidacy,” he tweeted. “Let’s see who stays loyal.”
DeSantis’s pre-launch video set the right tone for a match-up with the media savvy former president, said Blaze TV host Steve Deace.
“Everyone knows you’re not going to defeat DeSantis on the issues,” he tweeted. “But the presidency, and running for it, is at least as much about presentation as it is policy. That’s the unanswered question for many. We know he can be a president, but can he be a standard-bearer? This sets a tone.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s super PAC was less that impressed with the Twitter-style launch and DeSantis’s plans to reportedly meet with mega-donors at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami prior to the campaign announcement.
“This is one of the most out-of-touch campaign launches in modern history,” said Karoline Leavitt.
Musk, who last year tweeted that he would support a 2024 DeSantis bid, heralded the event as groundbreaking.
“The first time something like this is happening on social media,” Musk said, telling The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit on Tuesday that DeSantis would be make “quite and announcement” and noting that there would be a live questions and answers segment.
BREAKING: Elon Musk confirms reports that he will be holding a Twitter Space with Ron DeSantis tomorrow with “real time questions and answers” pic.twitter.com/pd3pSTyobQ
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 23, 2023
The Twitter announcement is slated to take place Wednesday at 6 p.m., and will be followed by an interview with Fox News’ Trey Gowdy at 8 p.m. Fox News Tonight, according to the network.
