Governor Ron DeSantis officially kicked off his 2024 campaign with a live Twitter Q&A. He was asked about everything from the government’s response to COVID-19 to his feud with Disney. But notably excluded from the conversation was his main challenger from the GOP: Donald Trump. Something is loading.
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Governor Ron DeSantis officially kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign during an event streamed live on Twitter, discussing a wide range of topics from the government’s response to COVID-19 to his ongoing feud, as Governor of Florida, with Disney.
But one topic notably omitted from the audio-only forum, which was plagued by technical difficulties early on, was DeSantis’ most formidable challenger for the GOP nomination: Donald Trump.
During a nearly hour-long Q&A session on Wednesday, David Sacks and Elon Musk brought in a few people who already seemed to align themselves with DeSantis’ camp, including the conservative radio host Dana Loesch and Representative Thomas Massie, to ask questions of the candidate.
DeSantis was asked about his fight with Disney, the book ban controversies, and even his stance on digital currency.
But when it comes to how he will distance himself from Trump, only the lightest but obvious reference was made to his rival when podcast host Steve Deace asked the governor how he would handle immigration.
“We’ve heard a lot over the years, ‘Lock her up.’ ‘Drain the swamp.’ ‘I will build a beautiful wall.’ “Mexico is going to pay for this. And the crowds cheered, and everyone loved it, and brands were created, and nothing was done,” Deace said, referencing some of the most in vogue of Trump and his Make America Great Again brand.
“What is the basic assurance that you can give people listening right now… that you can actually follow through on the agenda that you just articulated when others tweeted about it and talked about it and didn’t then couldn’t keep up,” Deace asked.
In his response, DeSantis did not utter Trump’s name but said he “shared that frustration.”
“I think our constituents are tired of empty promises. They want to see action,” DeSantis said.
Meanwhile, Trump and the MAGA camp mocked the governor on social media as the Q&A unfolded.
“‘Rob’, my red button is bigger, better, stronger and works (TRUTH!), not yours! (from my conversation with soon to be friend Kim Jung Un from North Korea!) ,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform.
During the technical difficulties of the live stream event, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: “#DeSaster”.