DeSantis to Launch Run in Event With Elon Musk

Florida governor will take part in Twitter Spaces sessions with CEO on Wednesday
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2023 3:27 PM CDT
DeSantis Will Launch White House Bid With Musk
Elon Musk poses prior to his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, May 15, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool, File)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to launch his White House bid on what used to be Donald Trump's favored social media platform. The Republican will make the announcement in a Twitter Spaces session with CEO Elon Musk starting at 6pm Eastern on Wednesday, campaign officials confirmed to Politico. At a Wall Street Journal event Tuesday, Musk said he isn't planning to endorse a candidate but he wants to use Twitter as a virtual town square. The event will be moderated by GOP donor David Sacks, who supports DeSantis and has close ties to Musk, the New York Times reports.

A source tells NBC that the DeSantis team has been in talks with Musk for weeks and the Twitter CEO does not believe Trump, who has a large lead over DeSantis in the polls, can win back the White House. Last year, Musk said DeSantis would "easily" win if he ran against President Biden. Fox says that after the Twitter event, DeSantis will be interviewed by former Rep. Trey Gowdy at 8pm. DeSantis critics scoffed at the announcement of the Twitter event. "Announcing on Twitter is perfect for Ron DeSantis. This way he doesn’t have to interact with people and the media can’t ask him any questions,” a Trump adviser told Politico. (More Ron DeSantis stories.)

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