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Ron DeSantis to Announce 2024 Presidential Run With Elon Musk on Twitter

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday in a live Twitter conversation with Elon Musk, the platform’s polarizing owner, the 2024 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with his plans. plans to announce the start of

While it was widely expected that DeSantis would run in the Republican primary against former President Donald J. Trump, his decision to run in the Republican primary with Musk added an element of surprise, with DeSantis appearing a lot online. will be accessible to an audience of NBC News first reported the plan.

The event on Twitter Space, scheduled for 6 p.m. ET, poses some risk to what is expected to be a carefully scripted development, with DeSantis’ first impressions of the presidential nominee being mixed with Musk. make sure they match. An eccentric businessman who was sometimes ranked among the richest people in the world.

DeSantis will later appear on Fox News and appear in an interview with former South Carolina Congressman Trey Gordy. according to the network.

Musk appears to have confirmed the news with a retweet on Tuesday. Fox news reporter He was sharing news of a planned Twitter Space with Mr. DeSantis. The governor also gathered donors at the Four Seasons in Miami on Wednesday.

The conversation with Musk will be moderated by David Sachs, a DeSantis supporter and a Republican donor close to Musk.

Musk said he voted for President Biden in the 2020 election, but has since criticized the administration for its ruthless relationship with him and his electric-car company Tesla. The billionaire said it was difficult for Mr. Biden to stay in touch with voters now that he is 80.

When asked about Mr Biden, CNBC interview Mr. Musk said last week that he just wanted “ordinary people” to lead the country.

“It’s not just a matter of whether they share your beliefs,” he said. “But are they good at getting things done?”

Musk, a self-described moderate who has voted Democrat in the past, has shifted his support to the right in recent years. On Twitter, he has endorsed and shared right-wing conspiracy theories, including the October attack on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.

Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk called the Democrats “the next party.”division and hatred“I will vote for the Republican candidate,” he said. Daily Beast It was later reported that Musk did not vote in the midterm elections.

Mr. Musk has been unabashed in expressing his support for Mr. DeSantis, and has done so many times over the last year. In July last year, Musk said that the Governor of Florida said,win easilyIf you play against Mr. Biden in 2024.and in November he answered affirmatively When one Twitter user asked if he would endorse Mr. DeSantis in that year’s election.

When Mr. DeSantis was asked about Mr. Musk’s potential support last summer, the governor of Florida replied: cracked: “We welcome support from African Americans. What can I say?” (Mr. Musk is white and from South Africa.)

Musk has donated to both Republican and Democratic politicians over the years, but in relatively small amounts. His biggest donation was $50,000 to the 2015 re-election campaign of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, brother of his friend businessman Ali Emanuel.

In Florida, Mr. DeSantis has supported legislation aimed at protecting people from what he called “the Silicon Valley elite.”

Earlier this year, the Florida legislature passed a bill that would allow consumers to opt out of sharing online data with big tech companies, among other privacy measures. This so-called Florida Digital Bill of Rights applies only to companies with “gross global annual revenues” greater than his $1 billion.

DeSantis also criticized efforts by Silicon Valley companies to remove misinformation from their platforms, likening it to attacks on free speech and truth in concert with government officials. .

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation in April, DeSantis said, “You’ve seen government states colluding with big tech companies to censor truthful information. That’s attacking the coronavirus lockdown. “Whether it’s people wearing masks or questioning the effectiveness of masks and school closures.” Influential conservative think tank. “It was big technology companies working together to do something that the government would never be allowed to do directly.”

According to one source, he also privately called for Google to be broken up. report At ProPublica — he agrees with liberal critics of big tech.

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