Blame social media or the current presidential frontrunners in the 2024 US elections but the level of pettiness has gone to a new level within the Republican primaries.
In an unorthodox fusion of politics and technology, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his run for president during a Twitter Spaces event alongside CEO Elon Musk, with tech entrepreneur and a long-tome confidant of Musk, David Sacks, moderating the event.
Not to be left behind, former president Donald Trump, who’s currently leading the polls for the Republican nomination, launched a video on his Twitter-like platform Truth Social, mocking the governor’s announcement.
The fake Twitter Spaces seemingly feature AI-generated voices portraying the fake accounts of Musk and DeSantis, as well as businessman and known Democrat donor George Soros, World Economic Forum Chairperson Klaus Schwab, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and former German dictator Adolf Hitler.
The video also had a fake account called The Devil and an account impersonating the FBI joining the mocked announcement.
In the video, fake Musk and DeSantis struggle to make the announcement as the Soros account can’t seem to figure out how to operate the device and the Cheney account kept on coughing to the microphone. The FBI account, who asked “how are we going to take out Trump,” left after it was told that it is not a private call but a public announcement and therefore everyone can listen in.
It is unclear why accounts of Hitler and The Devil are included in the Spaces but they added to the delay when The Devil said “you go, girl” to DeSantis, much to the shock of Hitler figuring out that The Devil is gay.
“The Devil is gay?” asked the Hitler account.
“So what? Everyone in this call is gay,” answered The Devil account, earning the ire of the Hitler account speaking in German.
When he was able to come around, the DeSantis account announced that he is “running for f*cking president,” to which everyone replied that they already knew.
Then, the Trump account came to join the Spaces: “The real president is gonna say a few words. The Devil, I’m gonna kick your ass very soon. Hitler, you’re already dead. Dick Cheney, sounds like you’re joining Hitler very soon. Klaus Schwab and George Soros, I’m putting both your asses in jail. And Ron DeSanctimonious, kiss my big beautiful 2024 presidential ass.”
Okay, what about the real DeSantis Twitter Spaces announcement?
In reality, however, DeSantis’ presidential announcement experienced multiple technical difficulties, with the Spaces having to delay its start.
“I think you broke the internet there,” Sacks said to DeSantis when they were able to finally start the Spaces.
DeSantis then went on to announce his candidacy, promising to lead the country to its “Great American Comeback,” similar to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
“Well, I am running for President of the United States to lead our Great American Comeback. Look, we know our country is going in the wrong direction. We see it with our eyes and we feel it in our bones,” DeSantis said. “And our president, well, he lacks vigor, flounders at the face of our nation’s challenges, and he takes his cues from the woke mob.”
Expectedly, Trump, who was recently indicted over the hush-money deal he allegedly made with adult film star Stormy Daniels back in 2016, mocked DeSantis’ announcement, calling it a disaster.
US President Joe Biden, who himself announced recently his reelection campaign, was quick to make fun of DeSantis’ campaign launch and tweeted a link to his campaign donation drive with a caption: “This link works.”
DeSantis announced his presidential candidacy amid the legal battle he’s facing against The Walt Disney Company. Disney and DeSantis have been at odds since March 2022, when Disney’s then-CEO Chapek denounced legislation in Florida that would limit discussion of gender identity and sexuality in elementary classrooms.
The Florida governor then attempted to deprive Disney of its long-standing self-governing control over Walt Disney World in Orlando. The governor said that “woke Disney” should not be treated differently in the state.
The entertainment giant filed a lawsuit in April against the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, alleging that he had subjected the company to a “targeted campaign of government retaliation.”
The entertainment conglomerate wants a court to quash the state’s efforts to manage Walt Disney World in Orlando. The complaint was filed only minutes after a DeSantis-appointed monitoring board voted to overturn February agreements that permitted the firm to develop the theme park while maintaining control over adjoining properties.
Following the brouhaha, Disney decided to cancel plans to develop a nearly $1 billion corporate campus in Florida that would have employed 2,000 people and transferred Imagineer jobs from California to the state.
California Governor Gavin Newsom joined in making fun of DeSantis’ presidential announcement, calling it historic to be the first presidential candidate to launch his campaign “after suffering a massive defeat to a cartoon mouse.”
In a recent CNN poll, Trump is the first pick of 53% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, nearly double DeSantis’ 26%. However, the survey reveals that large numbers of Republican-aligned voters are open to accept either of the two candidates, as well as several others.
More than eight in ten either support or are open to considering Trump (84%) and DeSantis (85%), while smaller majorities support or are open to considering former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (61%), South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (60%) and former Vice President Mike Pence (54%). According to the poll, Haley and Pence are the first pick of 6%, with Scott at 2%, along with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and five other contenders receiving 1% or less.
The 2024 Republican National Convention is scheduled to be held July 15 to 18, 2024 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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