CNN
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Ron DeSantis’ decision to announce his 2024 White House bid in a conversation with Elon Musk on Twitter Wednesday will make a typically blunt statement about his campaign, the unruly population of the modern Republican Party and a rapid revolution in conservative media.
Florida’s governor is finally jumping into the race by throwing down a gauntlet to former President Donald Trump in a launch strategy that portrays him as a true anti-establishment rebel in the race willing to shatter the conventions of traditional politics. in the presidency.
His chosen area of Twitter Spaces – the site’s audio platform – also reflects the transformation of the GOP in the era of Trump into a party that rewards the politics of action and whose activists respond to the moderate jungle of social media while disregarding traditional standards of behavior and governance.
But while Twitter’s appeal to conservative voters under Musk, with 141 million followers, means DeSantis could make a smart move in a GOP primary, he could still damage a questionable one. reputation with more moderate voters that he needs in a general election by presenting a more polarizing platform.
That’s because Twitter, which once offered a platform for the democratic movements of the Arab Spring, has been transformed by its new owner into a febrile circus that knows nothing about free speech, conspiracy theory and unverifiable information. Just this week, a fake image of an explosion near the Pentagon went viral, causing a blip in the stock market in a potential glimpse into a presidential campaign likely plagued by misinformation. and AI generated lies. Musk, on the other hand, has shown a willingness to ignite his own Twitter infernos, so his increasingly prominent role suggests that the 2024 presidential race will be as chaotic as the 2016 and 2020 editions, marked by Trump’s extreme rhetoric and accusations of voter fraud.
Another mind-boggling election season occurred Tuesday with the former president’s court appearance in a case stemming from a hush money payment to a former adult film star to which he pleaded not guilty. Judge Juan Merchan set a trial date for March 25, 2024 – in the middle of the primary season. The timetable raises the possibility that Trump could use the trial as a stage to drive home his claim that he is a victim of political persecution. But it also creates a risk for Trump that he could be convicted criminally while he’s still fighting for the GOP nomination — a rare and unprecedented scenario.
By choosing Twitter to make his own splash, DeSantis appears to be targeting a dramatic moment that could restore a sense of momentum to GOP primary aspirations that have been waning for six months. past but it has been marred by its own mistakes and Trump’s recent political rebound.
In embracing Musk, DeSantis has associated himself with a hero among conservatives who have long claimed they are censored on social media. He took a swipe at Trump, who was banned from tweeting by the company’s previous ownership and currently prefers to land on his own platform, Truth Social, even though Musk restored his account. Trump’s 2016 campaign and entire presidency unfolded in a flurry of self-conscious tweets that he used to great effect — even as he left his country stressed and exhausted.
DeSantis took a brilliant jab at the traditional media, which many conservatives deride, by showing that he is willing to bypass the regular conventions of presidential campaigns. His launch will also make a sharp contrast to Trump’s own rambling, and even boring, opening speech at the Mar-a-Lago campaign in November, which lacked any sense of political dynamism.
The Florida governor will also show how far the GOP has traveled from its roots as a bastion of tradition and the extent to which the internet and the media’s fragmentation of partisan blocs are changing campaigns. in the presidency. In 1979, for example, Ronald Reagan announced his presidential bid with a grandfatherly speech from a cozy study that looked like the inside of a country club. George W. Bush hit the road to the White House 20 years ago from a farm in Iowa. Today the best way to reach most GOP voters is online.
By breaking the mold of presidential announcements, DeSantis is borrowing from Trump’s unconventional playbook. One lesson of the 45th president’s tumultuous political career is that anything calculated to offend liberals and mainstream media commentators is always popular with core GOP voters.
DeSantis has been running to the right of Trump by targeting what he calls “woke” measures on diversity, equity and inclusion and staking conservative positions on social issues. Now, he’s also looking to steal Trump’s reputation as a big troublemaker.
DeSantis’ announcement also helps enshrine an emerging power shift in the conservative media. His choice of Twitter recognizes the importance of the social network to right-wing voters under Musk and may facilitate the transition from Fox News as the most dynamic platform for the new champions of the conservative movement. This comes after top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he would relaunch his show on Twitter after being ousted from Rupert Murdoch’s primetime line-up after the company paid $787 million to settle a defamation suit related to its promotion of election lies and misinformation after the 2020 election.
In his appearance, DeSantis hammered home his argument that social media networks seek to suppress the speech of conservatives — a popular view on the right. In his autobiography “The Courage to Be Free,” DeSantis criticized companies like Facebook and Twitter, under their previous owners, which he said made “censorship decisions that were always wrong in on the side of leftist orthodoxy, they have distorted the American political system because so much political talk is now happening on these so-called open platforms.”
However, DeSantis is unlikely to turn his back on Fox, which has offered him more air time — a possible sign that the Murdoch family is beginning to tire of the former president.
DeSantis’ launch strategy does not come without risks. The hostile environment on Twitter and his association with Musk threaten to undermine the case DeSantis is making to Republican voters — that he may offer a more stable and disciplined leadership style than has been shown. of Trump in his fierce term in the White House.
And by avoiding the kind of big, staged political announcement in front of a large crowd, DeSantis risked emboldening Trump’s sarcastic criticism that the Florida governor was wasting the day’s support, after polls that showed him falling behind the former president, even ahead. candidates like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
The virtual announcement could also fuel Trump’s claims that his one-time protégé, whom he now accuses of treason for running for president, lacks the political skills to compete for less. controlled phase. A pro-Trump super PAC mocked DeSantis ahead of his online announcement, calling it “one of the most botched campaign launches in modern history.”
“The only thing less relatable than a niche campaign launch on Twitter, is DeSantis’ after party at the uber elite Four Seasons resort in Miami,” MAGA Inc., the Trump-aligned super PAC, said in a statement Tuesday.
People familiar with the DeSantis campaign plan, however, indicated that the Florida governor will soon launch a non-stop campaign show in key swing states, intended to compare his strength to his old rivals, Trump and President Joe Biden.
Trump’s team and his allies are planning an aggressive operation to try to drown out the launch of DeSantis on Wednesday. MAGA Inc. has criticized the governor of Florida for his early support of the Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic as it seeks to damage his credibility with conservatives who reject the government’s health advice.
But it’s another sign of how the Republican primary is getting its head around. After all, it was Trump who previously claimed all the credit for vaccine development during his presidency. Now his supporters are condemning DeSantis for trying to save lives.