Ron DeSantis announced on Twitter, alongside Elon Musk, that he will run for the United States presidency in 2024.
But does he really have a chance?
The once “long shot” candidate for governor now has his eyes set on the White House, hoping to secure the Republican nomination.
Arguably best known for his “anti-woke” stance on just about everything, many have tipped Mr DeSantis to be the one to beat former president Donald Trump in the primaries.
He will face off with a number of Republicans in the crowded contest for the nomination. However, it seems most likely that it will come down to Mr DeSantis and Mr Trump.
Who is Ron DeSantis?
The Florida native was born in 1978; he attended both Yale University and Harvard Law School and joined the US Navy in 2004.
Mr DeSantis became a navy judge advocate general officer and worked at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, and served in Iraq.
His political career began in 2012, when he successfully ran for the House of Representatives and was re-elected in 2014 and 2016.
In 2018, he launched what was considered to be a “long shot” run for governor in Florida. He was endorsed by Donald Trump.
Mr DeSantis was a political unknown in Florida when he sought the governor’s office, and was not favoured to win the Republican nomination.
He won the race by less than 1 per cent in 2018, and Mr Trump took credit for his win.
Mr DeSantis was re-elected in 2022, in a landslide.
He became known through the United States for his opposition to many of the policies advocated by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
He resisted mask and vaccine mandates, and was determined to keep open Florida businesses and tourism destinations during the bulk of the pandemic.
Mr DeSantis has since then become a leading figure within the Republican Party in fighting back against what he argues are overly progressive polices favoured by educators and corporations, or “woke” culture.
He also became embroiled in a very public feud with Walt Disney Co, with the company’s CEO Bob Iger, calling him “anti-business”.
Tweet from @RonDeSantis
A #DeSaster
Since his 2022 win, there was much speculation Mr DeSantis would run for president in 2024. Over the past week, there were rumours he would announce his run on May 24, and he did.
Mr DeSantis announced his candidacy on Twitter Spaces, alongside the platform’s owner Elon Musk and entrepreneur David Sacks. However, the audio discussion was plagued by problems.
These technical issues led some to brand it a “DeSaster”, though Mr Musk said the issues were proof that this was “real”, compared to a televised announcement with a teleprompter.
Tweet from @TheRealHoarse
After several minutes of problems, Mr DeSantis finally spoke.
“I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” he said.
During the Twitter event, Mr DeSantis said that US President Joe Biden lacked “vigour”, and even took a subtle dig at Mr Trump.
“Government is not about entertainment, not about building a brand,” Mr DeSantis said.
He also said the “culture of losing” that had “infected” the GOP must end.
Tweet from @business
Can he beat Trump?
There are a handful of other Republicans vying for the nomination, possibly including Mr Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence.
However, many believe the true fight will be between Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis, so the question is: Can he beat the former president?
Mr DeSantis has received some support from his political colleagues. The super PAC, Never Back Down, that is backing Mr DeSantis recently stated that some 50 legislators in New Hampshire had thrown their support behind the Governor.
Currently, Mr DeSantis is trailing Mr Trump in the polls, as Mr Trump stated on Truth Social, but there’s still plenty of time before the primaries.
As some have pointed out, Mr DeSantis could offer up conservative politics not too dissimilar to Mr Trump without the baggage of an election loss, an insurrection, legal woes and allegations.
Mr Trump is staring at a few legal challenges. Not only was he recently indicted, but found liable of sexual assault. However, as the world saw on January 6, 2021, his many supporters will passionately stand by him.
If US politics is anything, it’s unpredictable. At this stage, Mr DeSantis is behind, but anything could happen between now and the primaries.
If he wins the primaries, he will then face Joe Biden in the election, who has already mocked him for the disastrous announcement on social media.
Tweet from @JoeBiden
No longer allies
The two once shared somewhat of an alliance, with Mr Trump previously endorsing Mr DeSantis and the two praising one another.
At one point, Mr Trump even suggested Mr DeSantis could be his running mate.
In October 2021, when asked if he could beat Mr DeSantis, Mr Trump confidently said he could.
However, the relationship has soured and Mr Trump has not held back on his attacks in recent months.
Mr Trump loves nicknames and he has a few for Mr DeSantis, including ‘Meatball Ron’ and ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’, the latter debuted before the 2022 midterms.
After Mr DeSantis made his announcement on Thursday, Mr Trump let loose on his own platform, Truth Social.
“I’d like to personally congratulate “Rob” DeSanctimonious on finally announcing that he will be entering the race for president of the United States,” Mr Trump said.
“Hopefully he will get the full experience of being attacked by the Marxists, Communists, and Radical Left Lunatics of our Country, without which he will never know the kind of job he is doing. These Lowlifes & Misfits are far worse than the leaders of hostile foreign countries.”
He then went on to share a number of videos, one about how he “saved” Mr DeSantis’ career and another spoofing Twitter’s technical difficulties with the announcement, where Adolf Hitler and the Devil were among those there to discuss the announcement.
During Mr DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign he ran an ad where he taught his daughter how to “build a wall” and read his son pages from Mr Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal.
Mr Trump has since used the ad to his advantage.
