Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to announce he is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday night during a live appearance on Twitter with the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, three people familiar with the plans tell CBS News. There will also be a launch video from DeSantis’ campaign, followed by trips to presidential primary states after Memorial Day.
The announcement will be at 6 p.m. ET and hosted by David Sacks, a technology executive who is close to Musk and a DeSantis supporter, the sources said.
The news was first reported by NBC News.
It was not immediately clear if DeSantis and Musk would appear together in person. The governor is scheduled to be in Miami Wednesday through Friday for meetings with longtime, top donors, who will be tasked with helping raise millions of dollars for his fledgling campaign in hopes of beginning with notable financial momentum as he joins the field.
While previously expressing a desire to keep Twitter a politically neutral space, the joint appearance by the platform’s owner and the Florida governor will be seen at least as a tacit endorsement by Musk of DeSantis’s bid. It was not immediately clear if Musk plans to outright endorse the governor. And the joint appearance comes as former President Donald Trump, once the platform’s most high-profile, newsiest user, has said he will eschew the site in favor of his own social media tool, Truth Social, which is popular with a segment of the conservative movement.
Sources told CBS News last week that DeSantis is expected to file his paperwork to run for president on Wednesday. Also last week, his political operation moved out of the state GOP headquarters to a new office in Tallahassee — a move that cost more than $5,000 — and triggered a federal campaign law requiring DeSantis to register as a candidate and designate a principal campaign committee within 15 days.
In Sarasota, Fla., last week, DeSantis was asked if he’d announce a run within the next 15 days. He said “a couple more things left on the [legislative] agenda,” including the state budget.
DeSantis’ entry in the 2024 presidential race comes after months of visits to early presidential primary states and across the country to promote his new book and tout his legislative record as governor. DeSantis was in Iowa for multiple events earlier this month.
He is currently serving his second term as Florida governor after he was reelected by a nearly 20-point margin in November 2022. In the state’s latest legislative term, which ended in May, DeSantis signed a succession of bills popular with conservatives, including a six-week abortion ban and one that established permitless concealed firearm carry. On the road, he’s also been highlighting bipartisan bills that would increase teacher pay, lower prescription drug prices and cut taxes for home goods.
