DeSantis officially launched his candidacy for the White House on Wednesday night, encountering a series of technical difficulties and glitches on the live Twitter feed.
The Republican nominee is trailing Trump in the latest polls as the former president ramps up his attacks on the governor in the race for the Red Party nomination. (Photo: PL)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will begin his first tour as the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee next week, his campaign team has announced.
The release of the trip through the states of Iowa, New Hamsphire and South Carolina follows the politician’s registration in the White House race, an event that took place the day before after months of speculation about a possible candidacy.
DeSantis released a video yesterday announcing the launch while chatting with company boss Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces. However, the talk was marred by technical issues and was mocked by the question of who his rivals will be in next year’s Republican primary.
However, the governor’s team was quick to point out that the dialogue attracted hundreds of thousands of listeners and raked in a million dollars in the first hour of his official campaign.
The governor’s campaign manager, Generra Peck, said in a statement that his team is focused on getting his message across to early voters.
“Our campaign seeks to use the time to win these states. No one will work harder than Governor DeSantis to share his vision with the country; “It’s only just started to fight,” Peck was quoted as saying by digital newspaper The Hill. DeSantis’ candidacy comes amid various controversies over his approval of policies labeled far-right by progressive groups in the United States.
The conservative politician’s most controversial decisions have ranged from signing a regulation removing the license requirement for carrying concealed firearms, despite rising armed violence in the United States, to suspending an African-American studies major to prevent the subject from being taught at postgraduate level schools is taught.
Partly because of this initiative, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the United States determined that the Florida government “is openly hostile to African Americans, people of color and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities.”
Another provision that has been objected to is that which allows healthcare providers to refuse to provide assistance on the basis of moral, ethical and religious beliefs.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, this means a doctor can refuse care to Floridians based on their personal idiosyncrasies, granting them total immunity from any adverse consequences resulting from refusal to provide assistance.
