Ron DeSantis will launch his presidential bid with Elon Musk
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Ron DeSantis will launch his presidential bid with Elon Musk
6-7 minutes Invalid Date
F lorida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce he is running for president during a discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, three sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.
Musk and DeSantis will host an event on Twitter Spaces, the site’s platform for audio chats, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be moderated by David Sacks, a tech entrepreneur who is a Musk confidant and DeSantis supporter.
That same evening, the campaign will release a launch video, and DeSantis will begin visiting several early states after Memorial Day.
The relationship could be a significant boost for DeSantis by giving him an introduction to, and credibility with, Musk’s massive following — including his 140 million Twitter followers. But it could prove a burden should DeSantis become distracted by the tycoon’s many controversial comments.
The launch will closely tie together the billionaire tech mogul with one of the Republican Party’s rising stars. Musk has been an admirer of DeSantis, who also regularly chides corporate media. Last year, Musk said he would support the governor if he were to run for president.
The DeSantis team has been in talks with Musk for at least the last few weeks, according to a source familiar with the discussions. In those conversations, the source said, Musk has indicated he doesn’t think former President Donald Trump can win back the White House.
“He’s interested in the future, and he’s interested in winning again,” the person said.
It’s not clear if Musk will formally endorse DeSantis on Wednesday, but another source said that within DeSantis’ team, his participation is viewed as a clear sign of support for the governor.
Yet Musk is nothing if not unpredictable, and on Friday, he tweeted praise of an ad by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., one of DeSantis’ rivals for the GOP nomination.
NBC News did not receive a response for comment from Musk, Sacks or the DeSantis campaign for this piece.
Even if Musk stops short of a full endorsement of DeSantis, aligning with his presidential announcement puts him and the company more squarely into a presidential election than any other tech company before it. Twitter, Facebook and others have launched election hubs and voter registration efforts, but have kept candidates at arm’s length.
And someone of Musk’s stature participating in DeSantis’ presidential launch dents the inevitability and power of Trump.
DeSantis’ relationship with Musk goes back to early 2021, when the two met at a dinner party in Austin, Texas, with roughly 15 people including tech investors, developers and health care industry officials, according to a GOP fundraiser who was at the meeting.
The two also have a relationship through Sacks, a major Republican donor who has been openly supportive of DeSantis and is considered to be part of Musk’s inner circle on decisions about Twitter.
Musk has carved out an intense following after he purchased Twitter with the promise to return “free speech” after years of complaints from the right that the site had tried to censor conservatives. Among his first steps was reinstating the accounts of previous far-right Twitter users who had been suspended for spreading disinformation. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who remains one of the most popular figures in conservative media even after being fired by Fox News, is launching a new show on Twitter .
That seems to be part of what makes partnering with Musk attractive to DeSantis. One of the sources familiar with the plans told NBC News that DeSantis’ aides have been watching Twitter become an increasingly friendly space for conservative firebrands under Musk’s leadership, allowing them to speak directly to their conservative audience and bypass traditional media — something that was once Trump’s superpower.
Trump was banned from Twitter after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection by his supporters at the Capitol, and he has yet to return to the site even after Musk reinstated him last fall.
"I expect the campaign will be painting a positive vision for the country, and the entire rollout will highlight future vs. past, success vs. failure, winning vs. losing and action vs. talk. That is the frame of the race," a source familiar with the plan said.
The plan is not without its risks. Musk’s international star power could serve to outshine DeSantis, who — while a heavyweight in Republican political circles — is not nearly as well known. And DeSantis may not want to have to answer for all of Musk’s positions — potentially down to individual tweets — such as his comments about progressive megadonor George Soros that have earned the ire of Jewish leaders.
A source familiar with the plans said the DeSantis team wasn’t worried about being upstaged, arguing that the governor is fine not having the spotlight solely on himself.
But an additional risk for DeSantis is that while Musk has tons of muscle available to put behind DeSantis — and has fans in the former president’s base — Trump has made a political career out of portraying himself as an underdog fighting powerful forces within his party, on the Democratic side of the aisle, and in government and industry. Musk — and by extension, DeSantis — could be framed as just the latest corporate titan to align against Trump’s movement.
In the coming weeks, Musk will be stepping down as Twitter’s CEO. He recently announced that he had hired Linda Yaccarino , the former head of ad sales for NBCUniversal, to take over as the next CEO of Twitter. Musk said he would still oversee product design and new technology, while Yaccarino would run the business side.
Tags
Who is online
268 visitors
America has gone nuts.
puts him and the company more squarely into a presidential election than any other tech company before it .Twitter, Facebook and others have launched election hubs and voter registration efforts, but have kept candidates at arm’s length.
I appreciate the commitment to the bit.
How about the timing of that NAACP "travel warning?"
The forces of the left and Donald Trump are all focused on taking down Ron DeSantis.
They better or they'll be in for a world of hurt.
www.vox.com /technology/2023/5/20/23730607/elon-musk-conspiracy-twitter-texas-shooting-bellingcat-taylor-lorenz-psyops
Elon Musk won’t stop tweeting his way into trouble
Shirin Ghaffary 9-11 minutes 5/20/2023
Despite criticism for continuing to engage with conspiracy theories, Elon Musk is posting through it.
In the past five days, Musk has doubled down on a conspiracy theory about the Allen, Texas, shooter ; tweeted that billionaire philanthropist George Soros (who has long been the target of antisemitic conspiracy theories online) wants to “erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity;” and promoted a quickly debunked rumor that falsely claimed Washington Post journalist Taylor Lorenz was related to the founder of the Internet Archive.
When CNBC reporter David Faber asked Musk about his promotion of conspiracy theories in a live interview on May 16, Musk acknowledged that he does support these theories, like the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, because “some of these conspiracy theories” like the Hunter Biden laptop story “have turned out to be true.” When Faber pressed Musk about whether his promotion of conspiracy theories is hurting Twitter ’s reputation with advertisers, Musk was defiant.
“I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” said the billionaire.
Musk’s argument is that because conspiracy theories can sometimes be true, it’s okay to entertain them. Musk is correct that the Hunter Biden laptop story did turn out to be real , even though many in the media questioned its initial veracity. Twitter, the company Musk now owns, even controversially blocked the New York Post story breaking the news. It’s also true, as my colleague Zack Beauchamp has explained , that there can be valid, non-antisemitic reasons to criticize powerful figures like Soros.
But many of the conspiracy theories Musk has promoted to his 140 million Twitter followers have proven false. And some argue there’s potential danger in Musk spreading misinformation or heated rhetoric. The way Musk characterizes Soros, for example, stands to “ embolden extremists ,” according to Anti-Defamation League president Jonathan Greenblatt. Musk accused Greenblatt of defaming him and vehemently denied he’s personally antisemitic, saying “if anything” that he’s “pro-semite,” in the recent CNBC interview.
Let’s clarify right out the gate that Musk has a First Amendment right to say what he wants, with some limited legal exceptions. And as the owner of Twitter, a private company, he has the final word on what speech is or isn’t allowed on Twitter. But because Musk is the leader of the platform and one of the richest, most influential people in the world, his actions have consequences, both tangible and symbolic. Moreover, Musk’s tweets serve as a hindrance to the very real challenges Twitter faces to win back more advertisers who have left the brand, in large part over concerns about Musk’s behavior.
A closer look at Musk’s “flirting” with conspiracy theories
Musk’s engagement with conspiracy theories in recent weeks hasn’t been direct. He’s been described as “flirting” with these theories , oftentimes replying to a conspiracy theory tweet rather than directly tweeting it himself. He’s often taken a “just asking questions” approach, especially on subjects where there’s an information void.
For example, the week of the recent Texas shooting, early coverage of the incident, including that of open source intelligence research group Bellingcat, claimed that the suspected shooter was a white supremacist, based in part on his social media activity. Soon after, Musk jumped into the fray. He responded to a cartoon meme posted by an account called “The Redheaded libertarian” that raised questions about whether the suspected shooter, who is of Hispanic origin , could really be a neo-Nazi, and whether his account on a Russian social media app was legitimate.
“Didn’t the story come from @bellingcat, which literally specializes in psychological operations? I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but this is either the weirdest story ever or a very bad psyop!” Musk replied .
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins has long denied theories about his organization having ulterior motives , saying in a past interview that its contributors are just “people with laptops and free time.” But even if you don’t believe Higgins or Bellingcat on the subject of the Texas shooter, you don’t have to take their word for it. That’s because Texas law enforcement confirmed on May 9, the same day Musk posted his initial tweet casting doubt on the shooter’s white supremacist ties, that the suspected shooter had “Neo-nazi” ideation as confirmed by patches and tattoos on his body.
Despite this additional evidence, Musk doubled down on his disbelief about the shooter’s ideology a week later in the CNBC interview, saying there is “no proof” that the shooter was a white supremacist. Either Musk doesn’t know about or is choosing not to mention law enforcement’s account here. That doesn’t mean there’s never reason to question public officials’ account of a crime, but Musk didn’t do that here; he just avoided acknowledging a notable piece of evidence that contradicts his theory.
Race and crime seem to be points of particular interest for Musk. Last week, he replied to a tweet that contained a chart claiming to show that Black-on-white crime is higher than that of other categories of crime by race. Many have criticized the chart for being skewed, but Musk seemed to endorse it. “Odd, why would the media misrepresent the real situation to such an extreme degree?” Musk tweeted .
Others have said that the chart Musk is referencing is misleading because it’s adjusted for percentage of the population: Because white people account for a larger percentage of the US population, it makes sense that they are victims of crime in larger numbers. Also, the chart didn’t include white-on-white crime , which is among the highest buckets of crime broken down by race in the US.
As with many of Musk’s conspiracy-theory-flirting tweets, when put together, we start to see a fuller picture emerge: a specific grievance. In this case, it’s how the media portrays race and crime.
What’s going on with Twitter and Musk’s businesses
It’s notable that Musk is tweeting controversial tweets during a particularly critical moment for the future of Twitter.
The company has lost more than half of Twitter’s top 1,000 advertisers since Musk took over in November, according to January data from analytics company SensorTower. Some major companies, like Disney , Amazon , and Apple , have continued to spend money on the platform, and Musk has said other advertisers are coming back. But he’ll need more advertisers in his corner if he wants to turn Twitter’s business around.
Musk announced last week that former NBCUniversal advertising executive Linda Yaccarino will be replacing him as CEO. Given her street cred in the advertising industry, she’s seen as someone who can help repair Twitter’s reputation with major brands.
“If anyone can do it, it’s Linda,” one advertising executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told me last week. It looks as though Yaccarino has already managed to help bolster Twitter’s image with GroupM, one of the top advertising agencies in the world. The agency, which is owned by WPP, had designated Twitter as a “high-risk” company for its clients to advertise with, but, according to the Financial Times , recently removed the designation.
If Musk’s tweets were gaining him positive attention or drawing attention away from some other, bigger issue, you could say his tweets serve as a useful distraction or a savvy way of gaining free media coverage. Instead, Musk’s behavior is self-destructive. His controversial tweets could exacerbate the most pressing problem with Twitter: its relationship with advertisers.
Musk’s continued conspiracy theory flirtation threatens to stymie any progress Twitter is making on that front. Back in November, Musk’s tweet promoting a conspiracy theory about the violent attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband was seen as one of the turning points for many advertising industry insiders in their assessment about whether or not to continue advertising on Twitter.
It’s clear that Musk’s repeated promotion of conspiracy theories has real consequences for his business. If there’s a deeper reason for why Musk continues to promote these theories despite the consequences — beyond merely saying what he wants to say — is anyone’s guess. Whatever the reasoning, Musk is posting through the firestorm and getting all kinds of attention for it. Maybe that alone is worth the trouble.
Another long winded editorial from Vox. Let's begin here:
tweeted that billionaire philanthropist George Soros (who has long been the target of antisemitic conspiracy theories online) wants to “erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity;”
How is criticizing a Hungarian millionaire who has funded social justice activist DAs in the US, funded riots in the US and funded advocacy organizations and ballot initiatives in the US anti-Semitic?
Here is what Shirin should think about:
Thus far, the accusations have largely come from news outlets and liberal commentators. However, on Friday, Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, joined the choir. She wrote on Twitter, “Irrespective of how one feels about George Soros’s politics or policies, it is entirely disingenuous to deny that many ad hominem attacks on him rely on classic antisemitic tropes and rhetoric. In bygone eras, the antisemites invoked the Rothschild family to advance their conspiracies about Jews. Today they use Soros to do so.”
Twitter users were quick to point out that, in 2019, when Republicans disingenuously accused Democrats who attacked Sheldon Adelson, another billionaire political donor who is Jewish, of antisemitism, Lipstadt wrote “Mayor Pete said Adelson is too powerful. Republicans say that’s antisemitism. No. Not. Saying Adelson is too powerful because he’s a Jew is antisemitic. Saying he’s too powerful because he’s rich is not. STOP WEAPONIZING ANTISEMITISM.”
Next
It is amusing watching some on the left try to cancel musk because they can't control him. He can make progressive heads explode almost as well as he whose name we can not say. Ah, to have "fuck you" money.
hank God for Musk. Who else would have spent all that monwy to expose Twitter and restore free speech on that site?
Musk has promoted numerous conspiracies and dabbled in Q Anon themes.
This is the person to host a major party presidential announcement? The country is losing its mind.
Um-hum.
A genius gone mad / S
The most important thing is, ''does DeSantis have a blue check''....
You do realize that the irony of your comment will go right over the heads of who it is directed to?
Twitter is a news platform. Why is announcing it on twitter any different than anywhere else?
DeSantis has been successful and done very well in life. That would indicate he has excellent people and communication skills. He strongly comes across as a normal person, which is what the people are looking for. You can't say that for Biden, Harris, and Trump. Watch and learn as the weeks go by.
Better than hiding in the basement for an entire presidential election cycle- and only allowing non-in-person interviews with hand picked sympathetic media lemmings who have to provide the questions first.
Brandon has the worst media access of any president ever.
Maybe DeSantis should stand in front of a national monument with a couple of marines in dress uniform bathed in blood red light to make his announcement. Then throw in a threat to use the US military against his political opponents and their followers. Would that be more acceptable and outgoing in your book?
Biden is yelling at his handlers because they didn't think of it with soros