- Title: PROFILE: Republican DeSantis to announce 2024 presidential run
- Date: 9th November 2022
- Summary: LATROBE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - NOVEMBER 5, 2022) (Reuters) (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: “Now we're putting them up (candidates’ polling numbers). We're winning big, big, big in the Republican party for the nomination like nobody has ever seen before. Let’s see (Trump turning to look at screen that’s off camera, po
- Embargoed: 23rd November 2022 18:30
- Keywords: Florida Republican Ron DeSantis Trump White House
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA009818809112022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will announce he is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination during a discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday (May 24), two sources familiar with the plans confirmed to Reuters.
DeSantis coasted to re-election last November, defeating Democratic challenger Charlie Crist by nearly 20 percentage points with 98% of the expected vote counted.
DeSantis, 44, has drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump, 76, who has nicknamed him "Ron De-Sanctimonious."
President Biden called DeSantis "Donald Trump incarnate" in his sharpest comments yet against the Florida governor.
Democratic strategists worry that Florida, a closely contested political theater for decades, is starting to decidedly lean Republican. They hope to push back against that trend by making a campaign issue out of purported risks to popular health and retirement benefit programs.
Biden lost the state to Trump in 2020.
Biden and DeSantis have clashed over multiple issues including COVID-19 vaccines, abortion and LGBT rights.
In several campaign speeches, DeSantis has vowed to "never surrender to the woke mob," and has signed a Republican-backed bill that banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis has also signed a bill banning transgender women and girls from participating in college and high school sports.
In September, DeSantis sent two planeloads of migrants to the posh vacation island of Martha's Vineyard this week, to protest the Biden administration's immigration policies.
DeSantis, 44, was elected Florida's governor in 2018 after President Donald Trump endorsed the then-congressman over a more established Republican candidate. His national profile grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he resisted mask and vaccine mandates and argued for the opening of schools.
As his prominence within the Republican Party has risen, so has talk about DeSantis running for president in 2024. The biggest obstacle in his path is Trump himself, who is expected to seek another term in office.
DeSantis has been cagey about whether he would challenge Trump, who is still the most popular figure in the party. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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