On Wednesday night, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) made his presidential run official on Twitter Spaces, though it took some time due to the record high amount of users tuning in. The launch was mocked by unserious attempts from the left, including President Joe Biden. Later on in the evening, his campaign account released a video highlighting DeSantis taking pride in his pro-life views, as well as claims that the Republican candidate would "Cut Social Security and Medicare," an obsessive talking point of not just Biden, but one former and potentially future President Donald Trump uses against DeSantis as well. The video also takes another shot at DeSantis' launch and shows moments of him laughing.
DeSantis had spent the night of his announcement speaking to Trey Gowdy on Fox News as well as Mark Levin on his radio show, followed by a town hall with grassroots leaders and later still a press call. DeSantis spoke at length about his most formidable primary opponent, Trump, especially when taking questions, including from Townhall. DeSantis also appears to have his eye on the larger prize, though, when it comes to taking down Biden if and when he wins the nomination.
During the press call, DeSantis anticipated that the 2024 Republican presidential primary could be an ugly one, referring to it as a "wildcard" and pointing out that "it could be a little bit different" from how party members "typically come together" when taking a question from Townhall about reuniting the Republican Party and winning the general election. Nevertheless, DeSantis still is confident he can win.
"I think you struggle to come come back together after primaries, if you have a factional candidate that wins that that is not acceptable to the broad swath of people in the party," DeSantis pointed out, going on to draw a contrast in how he won so many Republican voters in his 2022 reelection, to the tune of 97 percent of them.
"And so people are gonna see somebody who's got a proven record of success, who's representing the values that the vast vast majority of our party professes to hold," DeSantis offered.
When it comes to winning the general, though, he stressed the importance of winning those winnable voters who "want to move on from Biden," though DeSantis also reminded that "you gotta have a vehicle that they're comfortable with." That includes being able to win with Independents, as DeSantis did when winning reelection last year.
Biden is "a weak candidate" with "a weak record," DeSantis pointed out, though he warned the left "will pull out all the stops" when it comes to "supporting and propping up their candidate."
While DeSantis pointed out that has to "assume that it's going to be a very close election," something the polls do presently suggest for the general election, he also sees "a possibility that you could just decisively win the argument with the country in a way that just kind of moves everything in our direction," especially when it comes to how "there's not going to be a lot of enthusiasm for him amongst Democrats," which will lead them to "really struggle with turnout."
In what may have been DeSantis' most direct hit on Trump came as an aside about his electability, as the governor shared "Trump would turn out Democrats," even noting he thinks this would "obviously" be the case.
It's not just a matter of knocking down his primary and general election voters, but about showing his own strength. DeSantis called to mind how he "demoralized the Democrats" who "did not have a good turnout" in the governor's race, something he is confident he can do nationally when it comes to how voters "would be pretty enthusiastic" to have a chance to get Biden out of office.
When it comes to Biden's video response, many took notice that it appears Biden is indeed afraid of having to face DeSantis, as well as the overall poor quality and nature of the video.
Smart for you to try to take aim now at the likely GOP nominee.
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) May 25, 2023
Somebody is concerned about their job security.
— schotts (@schotts) May 25, 2023
This is the most dishonest editing imaginable.
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) May 25, 2023
And despite trying to make @GovRonDeSantis look bad, notwithstanding the ridiculous editing & fragmented sentences, Ron still makes exponentially more sense than the senile buffoon @POTUS.
Congratulations. You played yourself. https://t.co/svj7f35Ei9
Joe seems pretty scared of Ron... pic.twitter.com/lOF1Gy6QTo
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) May 25, 2023
It wasn't just DeSantis fans who weighed in to mock the video, though.
I wasn’t impressed by @GovRonDeSantis tonight, but I know for a fact he performed better than Biden’s best day.
— John Cobb 🐇 (@acutelilbnny) May 25, 2023
2024 should be very interesting.
Among those taking notice? Team DeSantis' Christina Pushaw. It's going to be not just an interesting presidential Republican primary, but an interesting 2024 presidential election as well.
We can smell your fear
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) May 25, 2023
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