By STEVE PEOPLES, ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE (Associated Press)
MIAMI (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential marketing campaign on Wednesday with agency phrases however a disastrous Twitter announcement that did little to counter criticism that the 44-year-old Republican will not be able to tackle former President Donald Trump.
While he tried to undertaking confidence, DeSantis’ uncommon choice to announce his marketing campaign in an internet dialog with Twitter CEO Elon Musk finally backfired. The audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it just about unimaginable for many customers to listen to the brand new presidential candidate in actual time.
“American decline is not inevitable, it is a choice. And we should choose a new direction — a path that will lead to American revitalization,” DeSantis mentioned on the glitchy stream, racing via his conservative accomplishments. “I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback.”
While his critics in each events delighted within the rocky begin, DeSantis’ announcement marks a brand new chapter in his extraordinary rise from little-known congressman to two-term governor to a number one determine within the nation’s bitter fights over race, gender, abortion and different divisive points.
DeSantis’ path to the Republican presidential nomination is not going to be a straightforward one.
He enters the race wanting up at Trump in early polls whereas going through severe questions on his far-right insurance policies, his campaign-trail character and his lack of relationships throughout the Republican ecosystem. He has generated important curiosity amongst GOP main voters by casting himself as a youthful and extra electable model of the 76-year-old former president.
He didn’t point out Trump even as soon as in his dialogue with Musk that finally spanned greater than an hour. But he mentioned he was able to combat.
“Buckle up when I get in there, because the status quo is not acceptable,” DeSantis mentioned.
The final Republican nominee is anticipated to face Democratic President Joe Biden on the final election poll in November 2024.
DeSantis joins a area that additionally contains former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Vice President Mike Pence can also be thought-about a probable presidential candidate however has not but introduced a bid.
The governor has been courting main voters in key states for a lot of the 12 months and utilizing an allied tremendous political motion committee to construct a big political group that was basically a marketing campaign in ready and claims no less than $30 million within the financial institution.
In selecting Twitter on Wednesday night, DeSantis tried to take a web page out of the playbook that helped flip businessman-TV movie star Trump right into a political star.
It didn’t go as deliberate.
The on-line occasion began off with technical glitches that Musk mentioned had been on account of “straining” servers as a result of so many individuals had been attempting to hearken to the audio-only occasion. More than 20 minutes handed past the scheduled begin time with customers getting kicked off, listening to microphone suggestions, maintain music and different technical issues.
“You can tell by the mistakes that it’s real,” mentioned Musk.
DeSantis’ Republican opponents piled on.
The lead strategist for Haley’s tremendous PAC, Mark Harris, was cruel: “Failed soft launch? Check. Failed announcement? Double check. We look forward to Ron DeSantis’ failed campaign.”
“This is a disaster. Not surprising,” tweeted senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita.
DeSantis, who possible wouldn’t have grow to be the Florida governor with out Trump’s endorsement, has adopted the previous president’s fiery character, his populist insurance policies and even a few of his rhetoric and mannerisms.
Yet DeSantis has one factor his rival doesn’t: a reputable declare that he could also be extra electable than Trump, who faces a number of authorized threats, together with legal prices in New York, and who presided over Republican losses in three consecutive nationwide elections.
DeSantis, simply six months in the past, gained his reelection in Florida by a surprising 19 share factors — whilst Republicans in lots of different states struggled. He additionally scored a number of main coverage victories throughout the Republican-controlled Legislature’s spring session.
Aware of DeSantis’ draw, Trump has been virtually singularly centered on undermining his political attraction for months. Trump and his workforce imagine that DeSantis could also be Trump’s solely reliable menace for the nomination.
Hours earlier than the announcement, Trump argued in a social media submit that “Ron DeSanctus” can’t win the final election or the GOP main due to his earlier votes in Congress on Social Security and Medicare.
“He desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet,” Trump added. “A disloyal person!”
The kitchen-sink assaults and nicknames gained’t be DeSantis’ solely hurdle.
He is a political heavyweight in Florida and a daily on Fox News, however allies acknowledge that almost all main voters in different states don’t know him properly.
Despite his prolonged resume, mates and foes alike word that DeSantis struggles to show the campaign-trail charisma and quick-on-your-feet considering that usually defines profitable candidates on the nationwide stage. He has gone to nice lengths to keep away from unscripted public appearances and media scrutiny whereas governor, which is troublesome, if not unimaginable, as a presidential contender.
The Florida governor spent most of Wednesday behind closed doorways.
In an instance of his stage of media avoidance, his official Twitter account for governor posted a photograph shortly after the FEC submitting — a invoice signing surrounded by dozens of bikers for laws to assist scale back motorbike accidents in Florida. The media was not notified of the occasion forward of time.
Late Wednesday, DeSantis’ workplace introduced that he signed a broad election legislation invoice that incorporates a provision permitting him to run for president with out resigning his submit as governor, exempting himself from a state rule referred to as “resign to run.”
Would-be supporters additionally fear that DeSantis has refused to put money into relationships with get together leaders or fellow elected officers, elevating questions on his skill to construct the coalition he would finally have to beat Trump. By distinction, Trump has scooped up a military of endorsements in key states, together with Florida.
Beyond the first, DeSantis’ best longer-term problem could relaxation with the far-right insurance policies he enacted as governor as an unapologetic chief in what he calls his “war on woke.”
“We will never surrender to the woke mob and we will leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history,” he mentioned as soon as the Twitter stream began working.
The Florida governor despatched dozens of immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard off the Massachusetts coast to attract consideration to the inflow of Latin American immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. He signed after which expanded the Parental Rights in Education invoice — identified by critics because the “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which bans instruction or classroom dialogue of LGBTQ+ points in Florida public colleges for all grades.
More lately, he signed a legislation banning abortions at six weeks, which is earlier than most girls notice they’re pregnant. And he eliminated an elected prosecutor who vowed to not cost individuals beneath Florida’s new abortion restrictions or docs who present gender-affirming care.
DeSantis additionally signed a legislation this 12 months permitting Florida residents to hold hid firearms and not using a allow. He pushed new measures that critics warn would weaken press freedoms. He additionally took management of a liberal arts faculty that he believed was indoctrinating college students with leftist ideology.
The governor’s highest-profile political combat has come towards the Florida leisure large Disney, which publicly opposed his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. In retaliation, DeSantis seized management of Disney World’s governing physique and put in loyalists who’re threatening to take over park planning, amongst different extraordinary measures.
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Peoples reported from New York. Izaguirre reported in Tallahassee, Florida. AP writers J.J. Cooper in Phoenix and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”