The governor of Florida announced his candidacy for the 2024 elections in an underwhelming live stream. What are his chances?
After months of running the Republican campaign for the 2024 US elections unopposed, Donald Trump eventually got his first serious contender on Thursday. Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy on a glitchy Twitter live with platform CEO Elon Musk.
DeSantis’ announcement was unclear and the audio crashed many times. Elon Musk claimed the huge amount of traffic on the stream was causing the server overbearing, hence the malfunctions.
DeSantis, in a following interview with Fox News, tried to turn the live’s technical problems in his favor. “We had a huge audience,” he said. “It was the biggest they ever had. It did break the Twitter space. We’re really excited about the enthusiasm.”
The faulty stream was, however, mocked by Democrats and rival Republicans alike. On his social network, Donald Trump posted: “Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!”
Currently, Donald Trump is ahead of DeSantis in polls. According to FiveThirtyEight, Trump is leading with 54% of choices in the primary against DeSantis’ 20,7%.
On the other hand, some analysts predict that DeSantis will be more popular with new Republican voters. The governor of Florida is 44 years old compared to the former president’s 76.
Furthermore, Trump’s many criminal charges might prevent him from running altogether, at which point DeSantis will have a paved road to elections.
DeSantis vs Biden?
Current US president Joe Biden also mocked DeSantis’ meager attempt at live streaming his candidacy. The 80-year-old White House tenant is the only serious Democratic contender for the 2024 race.
Biden’s chances are neither good nor bad, at least for the moment. The Democratic electorate feels strongly about issues like abortion and gun ownership, as opposed to Republicans’ concerns over the economic situation.
DeSantis is a strong advocate for abortion bans and gun liberalizations, which will likely push more Democrat voters to the ballot to keep him away from the presidency.
On the other hand, Biden’s advanced age is highly unpopular among Democrats. Most leftist voters would rather have another choice for the 2024-2028 administration, which would end with an 84-year-old Biden.
But the Democratic party has yet to put forward another option. Furthermore, Biden has already proved he can beat Donald Trump in an election.
The Democratic strategy so far is to let the Republicans ruin their chances without interference. They are betting on Donald Trump’s indictment and possible conviction, which would officially kill any chance of reelection.
Trump and DeSantis, however, could also prove difficult opponents to face, especially considering the large polarization among the American public.
But it’s still too early to give out calls.
