Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is set to announce his candidacy for President of the United States during a live Twitter interview with Elon Musk at 6PM Eastern time on Wednesday.
The interview can be watched live below:
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) May 24, 2023
The announcement is unconventional and the first time that Twitter spaces will be used for something as significant as a major Presidential candidate announcing their candidacy.
Already, people have questioned the impartiality of the moderator, David Sacks, who hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis in 2021.
I noticed that Big Tech investor @DavidSacks is set to “moderate” your Twitter space with @GovRonDeSantis tomorrow at 6 pm EST in which he’s announcing his 2024 run for President.
Can you please explain how this is an impartial moderator when David Sacks hosted a… pic.twitter.com/CqrdYsiWme
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 24, 2023
Sacks began by saying that Musk has played a key role in exposing censorship at Twitter and major social outlets.
Sacks admitted to supporting DeSantis due to his policies on the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he ‘Kept Florida schools open and their economy thriving’.
Two minutes before the interview began, DeSantis posted his first official campaign video for President.
“I’m running for president to lead our Great American Comeback.” He said.
I’m running for president to lead our Great American Comeback. pic.twitter.com/YmkWkLaVDg
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) May 24, 2023
Fifteen minutes in to the interview, introductions had not even been completed as hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the Space, causing it to lag out multiple times.
After a half hour of technical issues, DeSantis began his interview with Sacks.
DeSantis said the last few years have given him a renewed sense of urgency to protecting people’s liberties.
He leaned heavily on language from America’s founding, quoting Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote that people will have a ‘Republic, if they intend to keep it’.
DeSantis said that he chose to do his announcement on Twitter spaces to ‘go against the grain’ and because he wanted to highlight the importance of Twitter as a free speech platform.
DeSantis responded to claims that Florida is unsafe by liberal activists, saying that the state’s crime rates are at an ‘all-time low’ and that legacy media are ‘manufacturing a narrative’ about the state.
He pushed back against claims that conservatives are far-right as Biden has made demeaning conservatives as far-right a key part of his re-election platform.
“People should be exposed to different viewpoints, and I think the elite in our society have tried to cluster themselves to where they are never challenged” DeSantis said.
This is a developing story.