US Presidential Election 2024: A stuttering start for DeSantis

Republican DeSantis is Donald Trump’s biggest internal rival in the party. The 44-year-old woman has officially entered the presidential race. But his “big announcement” didn’t go as planned.

Prominent Republican Ron DeSantis wants to become president of the United States – but the start of his campaign caused a lot of ridicule. For his “big announcement,” the far-right opted to chat with Twitter chief Elon Musk online, but there were always audio issues at first.

South Florida’s governor ditched his message: “I’m running for president to lead our great American comeback,” the 44-year-old said in a video posted at the same time on his Twitter account.

DeSantis is Donald Trump’s biggest internal rival. He wants to be a Republican candidate for the White House, but to do so he must defeat former President Trump and other candidates in his party in the primaries. Trump had already announced in November that he would run for the 2024 presidential election.

Advertising on Twitter turns into a “disaster”

DeSantis’ announcement is actually planned for 6 p.m. (local time) on Twitter — of all the places on the platform that Trump once used excessively. But the live conference that Musk moderated kept getting cut off. It wasn’t until about 20 minutes later that the event resumed and DeSantis began to speak.

Even conservative US broadcaster Fox News called DeSantis’ ad, which caused much fanfare, a “Twitter disaster.” And even US President Joe Biden couldn’t resist a little digging: At the time of the error, he posted a link to his campaign donation page on his personal Twitter page—and captioned it with the words: “This link works.”

DeSantis’ right-wing messages

Like his opponent Trump, DeSantis accuses US President Joe Biden’s government of leading the country into decline. “Our borders are a disaster. Crime has ravaged our cities. The government is making it hard for families to make ends meet and the president is messing around,” the governor says in his video presentation.

But in Florida, a different America is proven possible. Like Trump, DeSantis is on the right wing of the party and shares similar hardline positions. However, he is less known for scandals, loss of control, and political chaos than for being disciplined, calculating, and considerate. For those in the party and at the grassroots level who are sick of Trump’s antics but want a candidate with Trumpian content, DeSantis is seen as a viable alternative.

Trump shoots him

Years ago, Trump was a kind of mentor to DeSantis, but now the 76-year-old former president feels threatened by a younger applicant. With blunt words, Trump fired at his opponent again on Wednesday. “Instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career,” said one of the two videos Trump posted at the same time as DeSantis’ announcement on the “Truth Social” online platform he co-posted. There is only one person who can make America great again – Donald Trump.