Ron DeSantis formally announces 2024 bid on Twitter: ‘Our great American comeback’

Lydia Nusbaum and Amber Cooper contributed to this report.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he is officially running for president in 2024 in a campaign ad Wednesday.

“I’m Ron DeSantis and I’m running for president to lead our great American comeback,” he said in the ad.

The Florida governor’s ad criticized a president who “flounders,” crime infestation, and the federal government for making it “harder for families to make ends meet.”

“But decline is a choice, success is attainable and freedom is worth fighting for,” DeSantis said. “Righting the ship requires restoring sanity to our society, normalcy to our communities, and integrity to our institutions.”

He launched the ad before participating in a Twitter Spaces audio discussion with Elon Musk to kick off his presidential campaign.

“Truth must be our foundation and common sense can no longer be an uncommon virtue,” DeSantis said. “In Florida, we’ve proved that it can be done. We chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder.”

“We held the line when freedom hung in the balance. We show that we can and must revitalize America. We need the courage to lead and the strength to win,” he said in the ad.

DeSantis’ 2024 planned announcement on Twitter Spaces caused its servers to “strain” because of the high volume of people tuning in.

Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ campaign press secretary, said $1 million was raised online within one hour.

“There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet. Washington is next,” Griffin said.

The governor first gave a speech on Twitter Spaces prior to a discussion with Elon Musk and David Sacks.

“If you nominate me, you can set your clock to January 20, 2025 at high noon […] I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States,” DeSantis said.

He spent several minutes giving the speech, slamming the federal government’s “medical authoritarianism” during the pandemic and criticizing Biden for allowing a “woke agenda.”

DeSantis promised to reverse poor military recruiting trends, bring the administrative state “to heal,” and “leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history.”

“Now you can’t do any of that if you don’t win. There is no substitute for victory,” DeSantis said. “We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years.”

Several people were brought into the discussion, including U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and activist Chris Rufo.

The ‘Day One’ issue for DeSantis

A centerpiece of the governor’s administration has included tackling illegal immigration and denouncing the Biden administration for the influx of immigrants at the border.

“We will move on day one by declaring a national emergency. We will construct a border wall,” DeSantis said. “We will make sure we have ‘Remain in Mexico’ and that we’re not entertaining those claims in that way.”

He explained that Mexican drug cartels should be held accountable, especially for the fentanyl trafficking. DeSantis reiterated the need to “shut the border down” to discourage people, who are not being persecuted in their home country, from crossing illegally.

DeSantis on inappropriate books and CRT in schools

The governor was asked about media narratives related to “book bans” in Florida. However, the governor said books are not “banned,” explaining that people can buy whatever book they want.

“What we have done is empower parents with the ability to review the curriculum to know what books are being used in school, and then to ensure that those books match state standards and are age and developmentally appropriate,” DeSantis said.

He pointed to school books with images that were too graphic to be on the 6 p.m. news.

“If it’s too graphic for the six o’clock news, how is it okay for a sixth grader or a fifth grader?” DeSantis said. “And so nothing’s being banned.”

He touted how Florida eliminated critical race theory in schools while requiring schools to teach “thoroughly” about racial discrimination and American history.

“Our mantra in Florida is this: the purpose of the schools is education, not indoctrination,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis: ‘left-wing groups are colluding with legacy media’

DeSantis was asked about the recent travel advisory, claiming that Florida is “not a safe place for minorities to visit.”

Florida’s Voice reported the NAACP Board of Directors warned Black Americans to be advised of “hostile” Florida policies if considering a trip to the state.

“Claiming that Florida is unsafe is a total farce. I mean, are you kidding me? You look at cities around this country, they are awash in crime. In Florida, our crime rate is at a 50-year low,” DeSantis said.

“You look at the top 25 cities for crime in America, Florida does not have a single one amongst the top 25. And, if you look at cities like Baltimore, and Chicago, you got kids more likely to get shot than to receive a first class education,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis called the move a “political stunt” and said “left-wing groups” are “colluding with legacy media to try to manufacture a narrative.”

The governor said platforms like Twitter are where people can “debunk these lies in real time.”

Musk brought up a recent headline from the Atlantic, “basically claiming that anyone who listens to this, spaces on Twitter is basically a Nazi.”

Sacks then mentioned a recent Vanity Fair article headlined, “Report: Ron DeSantis Will Formally Announce His 2024 Bid With Elon Musk, Because Apparently David Duke Wasn’t Available.”

DeSantis responded and said this is a “function of the legacy media.”

“This is a function of these legacy media, these corporate journalists, they’re in their little bubble, and to draw allusions to stuff like that, how crazy do you have to be? But in their little bubble, it sounds like they’re making some type of profound point,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said part of what Twitter stands for, is people should be exposed to “different viewpoints.”

“I think the elites in our society have tried to cluster themselves to where their assumptions are never challenged, and that’s not a good way to live, it’s also not a good way to be a critical thinker, because no one’s ever going to question, obviously, wrong assumptions, because everybody around you shares them” DeSantis said.

Musk said there’s never been a “mechanism before where someone could address the nation, or anyone who wanted to listen to them could, from anywhere in the world.”