After months of his candidacy being treated like a foregone conclusion within both Republican circles and the public at large, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made it official on Wednesday, announcing the launch of his campaign to become the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee to take on incumbent President Biden.
"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 said during an exclusive sit-down interview with Twitter owner Elon Musk streamed live on the platform. The glitchy stream crashed repeatedly, making it "virtually impossible" for anyone to hear the announcement in real-time, as The Associated Press wrote.
DeSantis' entry into an increasingly crowded Republican field comes as Donald Trump continues to dominate across multiple polls. Nevertheless, the former president has gone out of his way to boost some declared candidates at DeSantis' explicit expense — a sign that even with his commanding lead, Trump sees the Florida governor as his chief rival for the GOP nomination. Hours before DeSantis finally made his candidacy official, the former president jabbed that "he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
DeSantis' studiously crafted aura of conservative electability (in contrast to Trump's electoral weaknesses) has been battered in the months leading up to Wednesday's seemingly inevitable announcement, with the candidate struggling to overcome allegations of awkward interpersonal skills and facing blowback from his far-right political agenda in Florida. Despite trailing Trump in the polls, however, DeSantis has maintained a comfortable lead over the remainder of the GOP candidates, including former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Now that DeSantis has officially committed to running for the nomination, the question becomes whether he can capitalize on his position ahead of the bulk of the GOP pack, while still weathering a continued assault from Trump.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Dutch center-left rises in election as far-right fallsSpeed Read The country’s other parties have ruled against forming a coalition
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
