Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign.
In a video posted to his Twitter account, DeSantis said that his bid is meant “to lead our Great American Comeback”.
“Our border is a disaster. Crime infests our cities. Federal government makes it harder for families to make ends meet, and the President flounders,” DeSantis says in the video.
“But decline is a choice. Success is attainable and freedom is worth fighting for. Righting the ship requires restoring sanity to our society, normalcy to our community, and integrity to our institutions,” he adds.
DeSantis notes that in Florida, “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 showed that we can and must revitalize America. We need the courage to lead and the strength to win.”
“I’m Ron DeSantis, and I’m running for President to lead our Great American Comeback.”
The video was posted as the Florida Governor was joining a Twitter Spaces conversation with Twitter owner Elon Musk, in which he announced his presidential bid.
The announcement with Musk was repeatedly disrupted when Twitter's servers apparently could not handle the surge in traffic. Some Twitter users reported that the app crashed as they tried to listen to the event.
At times, DeSantis' account appeared absent from the event. When DeSantis eventually was able to speak, about 20 minutes after the scheduled start, Musk asked the Governor what he had to say to the listeners, and DeSantis confirmed, “I AM running for President of the United States to lead our Great American Comeback”.
He then read a short speech which reflected much of what he said in the video.
Earlier on Wednesday, DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, teased the expected launch of her husband's presidential campaign.
DeSantis first tweeted a link to an article reporting on the likely announcement by her husband of a presidential bid, writing: "Big if true..," followed by a smiley face emoji.
Hours later, she tweeted a video hinting at Governor DeSantis' imminent launch of his presidential campaign.
"America is worth the fight... Every. Single. Time," she wrote.
Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump, who is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination, went on the attack against DeSantis on his Truth Social platform.