Announcement On May 23, 2023, a campaign insider revealed plans to the
Associated Press for DeSantis to announce his candidacy on
Twitter Spaces with
Twitter CEO
Elon Musk at 6:00 p.m.
EDT the following day, after meeting with donors at the
Four Seasons Hotel Miami. Musk then officially announced the live conversation. Hours before the discussion took place, DeSantis officially filed with the
Federal Election Commission (FEC). DeSantis tweeted a launch video minutes before the Twitter Space began. During the call, which attracted over 600,000 Twitter users, technical issues severely affected the announcement as DeSantis was unable to speak for 20 minutes. The Twitter Space was restarted, but lost a significant number of listeners. The conversation was moderated by
David Sacks, a confidant of Musk's during
his acquisition of Twitter and a Republican donor who praised DeSantis and gave him . Following the meeting, DeSantis appeared on
Fox News Tonight and spoke to former Republican congressman
Trey Gowdy, joking about the technical issues. Protesters gathered at the Four Seasons hotel prior to the DeSantis announcement. Although Sacks claimed that the event was the "biggest room ever held on social media",
BuzzFeed's
Facebook Live livestream of an
exploding watermelon stunt and a livestream of
April, a then-pregnant giraffe at the Animal Adventure Park in
Harpursville, New York, exceeded it in viewership. An estimated 3.4 million people listened to the interview or a recording of it, according to Twitter. Following the announcement, DeSantis appeared on a variety of conservative media, including
Erick Erickson's
Erick Erickson Show and
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, suggesting that he would pardon Trump if convicted, as well as participants of the
January 6 Capitol attack. On
The Ben Shapiro Show, he pledged to repeal the
First Step Act, signed by Trump in 2018 at the behest of his son-in-law
Jared Kushner. These appearances have antagonized Trump; in his interview with Shapiro, DeSantis criticized Trump for
his response to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The technical issues experienced during the Twitter Space overshadowed DeSantis's message. President
Joe Biden, who was
running for reelection, tweeted "This link works", followed by a link to his own campaign donation. Trump wrote on
Truth Social that DeSantis's collar was "too big" in his launch video; he later released a satirical video of a fake Twitter Spaces event, with figures such as
George Soros,
Klaus Schwab,
Adolf Hitler, and the
Devil in attendance. Trump followed the video up with another video of a rocket—labeled "Ron 2024", referencing
Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign logo—falling over. Both videos appear to be
generated by artificial intelligence. Florida representative
Matt Gaetz, a prominent Trump ally, tweeted, "DeSedative". Conservative media quickly used the technical issues to lampoon DeSantis.
National Review editor
Philip Klein called it a disaster, as did
Fox News. The
Daily Mail ran the headline, "Ron's Desaster"—a term that became a trending hashtag on Twitter—while
Breitbart News called it a "DeBacle for DeSantis". Conversely, conservative commentator
Ben Shapiro wrote that those concerned about the "optics of the Twitter Spaces glitch" are unlikely to vote for DeSantis. DeSantis's campaign later released a statement clarifying that the issues experienced during the Twitter Space were due to an influx of people listening to the audio discussion at once; campaign spokesperson Dave Abrams called it "Internet-breaking excitement." According to
The New York Times, employees had not run a stress test beforehand. The
Tampa Bay Times attributed the lack of a response from
late-night talk show hosts, such as
Stephen Colbert and
John Oliver, to the
2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
Initial stages and opposition On May 30, DeSantis held his first in-person event at Eternity Church in
Clive, Iowa, in a decision considered by the
Associated Press to strengthen his connection with evangelical Christian voters. He subsequently appeared in other cities across
Iowa, including
Sioux City,
Council Bluffs,
Pella, and concluding his visit in
Cedar Rapids. In a
Fox & Friends interview, DeSantis called Iowa "very important" and drew parallels to the
six-week abortion ban he signed into law with Iowa's. The event is part of a tri-state tour billed the "Great American Comeback Tour", During his visit to New Hampshire, DeSantis sparred with an Associated Press reporter in
Laconia, asking him, "Are you blind?" The incident attracted media attention; Never Back Down framed it as an instance of him shutting down "fake news". In
Manchester, DeSantis was met by reproductive rights protesters. On June 7, DeSantis visited the
Mexico–United States border in
Arizona, meeting
Cochise County sheriff Mark Dannels. Simultaneously, he began a million door-knocking effort. The DeSantis campaign has established a boot camp—referred to by allies as "
Fort Benning"—to encourage canvassing efforts. DeSantis fielded questions at a
town hall event in New Hampshire on June 27. In a pluvial event, DeSantis marched in an
Independence Day parade in New Hampshire. DeSantis's wife,
Casey DeSantis, announced she would launch a
grassroots group called "Mamas for DeSantis" with Iowa governor
Kim Reynolds days after DeSantis and Trump crossed paths at a
Moms for Liberty convention. In a subsequent video, she called for mothers to mobilize to "protect the innocence of our children and to protect the rights of parents". DeSantis made her first independent appearance on July 6 with Reynolds. Through her words—both privately and publicly, Reynolds has created an environment that has favored DeSantis, drawing ire from Trump. Trump attacked Reynolds and will skip out on a gathering in
Des Moines, Iowa, for
The Family Leader hosted by politician
Bob Vander Plaats, to which DeSantis came to her defense and indirectly told him, "Nobody is entitled to this nomination", on
The Howie Carr Show. The
Trump campaign sought to directly attack DeSantis, with the two campaigns often employing imagery generated by
artificial intelligence (AI) or other
synthetic media. Days after DeSantis announced his candidacy, prominent Trump allies—such as his son,
Donald Trump Jr.—shared a scene of
The Office episode "
The Negotiation" with DeSantis's face
digitally imposed onto
Michael Scott's face; the scene involved a meeting with Scott and
Darryl Philbin in which Scott wears a
women's suit and is called out for it. Shortly thereafter, the DeSantis campaign used a sequence of images featuring Trump with former
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director
Anthony Fauci in a campaign commercial. While some of the images are real, the DeSantis campaign interspersed the sequence with AI-generated images of Trump kissing and hugging Fauci, as first noted by
Agence France-Presse. Congresspersons and Trump allies
JD Vance and
Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the advertisement, with Greene asking for its removal. Rapid response director
Christina Pushaw posted an AI-generated image of DeSantis riding a rhinoceros, referencing the pejorative term
Republican in Name Only (RINO). Despite remaining allies during the
COVID-19 pandemic, Trump and DeSantis have disagreed with each other's handling of the pandemic. Trump has released advertisements with DeSantis—dubbed "Lockdown Ron"—issuing
stay-at-home orders. The two men's feud has extended into Never Back Down mockingly following Trump in a bus. In a series of
Truth Social posts, he claimed that DeSantis is attempting to "get out" of the 2024 presidential election. Trump launched a "Farmers for Trump" coalition in June, criticizing DeSantis's stance on the
Renewable Fuel Standard and questioning his support for the
agricultural industry, particularly
in Iowa. DeSantis has also faced opposition from
Rupert Murdoch's media outlets.
Fox News's
Will Cain and
Maria Bartiromo questioned DeSantis on the vitality of his campaign, while
The Wall Street Journal criticized him for an immigration bill he signed in May and the
New York Post has covered his campaign struggles. During
Pride Month, his campaign shared an ad described as both homophobic and homoerotic, The video was criticized by many Democrats and Republicans. In response, DeSantis doubled down on his criticism of Trump as a "pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream". The video was removed from Twitter on July 7 for copyright violations.
First campaign reset In July, two senior advisors left the DeSantis campaign to work on an outside campaign effort. Amid financial issues, the campaign let go fewer than ten aides involved in event planning, according to
Politico, leaving the campaign with at least 90 employees. Never Back Down has received résumés from the laid off staffers. In a perceived slight towards Trump's comments at a
Dairy Queen in
Council Bluffs, Iowa, in which he asked what a
Blizzard was, DeSantis visited a Dairy Queen and ordered a Blizzard. He did not appear at the
Turning Point Action Conference that month, in contrast with Trump, who dismissed his candidacy and seized on his absence. Campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin stated that DeSantis was instead in Iowa and spoke at the
Tennessee Republican Party Statesman's Dinner. According to organizers, he declined to speak at the conference. Other speakers at the event—such as representatives
Matt Gaetz,
Byron Donalds, and
Anna Paulina Luna—supported Trump. At a fundraising event in
Ankeny, Iowa, DeSantis told reporters that he would consider Kim Reynolds as a potential vice president if he wins the Republican nomination. DeSantis scaled back his travel schedule to prioritize early voting states and focusing on media interviews, including an interview with
CNN's
Jake Tapper on
The Lead with Jake Tapper, marking the first time he has appeared on a non-conservative outlet. Griffin told the
New York Post that the DeSantis campaign prioritizes fundraising over media attention, chiding
mainstream media. The campaign's acceptance of the mainstream media is a departure from the isolationist strategy seen in the days following DeSantis's announcement that was once described as a "
safe space" by
Axios. DeSantis became the first major candidate to file in South Carolina, but that day his campaign events in
Tega Cay and
West Columbia were overshadowed by news that
Jack Smith was advancing the
investigation into the
January 6 Capitol attack by naming Trump as a target. That month, Never Back Down ran a political advertisement that—while using a post written by him on Truth Social—used an
audio deepfake of Trump as part of an Iowa advertisement buy worth at least million. Trump campaign senior adviser
Chris LaCivita criticized the use of artificial intelligence in the advertisement. According to
NBC News, DeSantis will run as an insurgent rather than an incumbent governor and will lean less into his governorship as a whole. He appeared at the
Utah State Capitol with
Utah governor
Spencer Cox, where he appealed to the state's evangelical base. Later that month,
Politico reported that DeSantis had cut his campaign staff by a third, or the jobs of 38 aides, signaling a need to rein in funding. On the same day, he was involved in a car crash at approximately 8:15 a.m in
Chattanooga, Tennessee, that lightly injured one aide, and on the same day as a donor retreat in
Park City, Utah. A pro-DeSantis Twitter account received criticism for posting a video that depicted a
Sonnenrad, a symbol used by
neo-Nazis, in the video's background. The video was retweeted by a DeSantis campaign staffer but was eventually deleted after massive criticism and backlash. The campaign aide who had retweeted the video was dismissed after it drew public criticism, but subsequent reporting indicated that the video’s creation involved multiple members of the campaign’s online media team. It was later revealed that the DeSantis campaign was directly involved in the creation of this and similar "
meme videos", after chat logs from a campaign "war room" were revealed by
Semafor. On August 8, DeSantis replaced campaign manager Generra Peck with James Uthmeier. Peck became the chief strategist.
Second campaign reset DeSantis reset his campaign for a second time on August 11. The following day, DeSantis attended the
Iowa State Fair, but his presence was interrupted by Trump's arrival. A memo from Never Back Down released that month suggested that then-candidate
Vivek Ramaswamy would implement the
caste system in the United States, viewing Ramaswamy as an opponent gaining in strength. Republican consulting firm
Axiom Strategies released hundreds of advice, memos, and polling information online, revealing that DeSantis's debate strategy is to "take a sledgehammer" to Ramaswamy and attack Biden, but defend Trump in absentia. DeSantis distanced himself from the documents, claiming that he had not read them; following the advice would be perceived as having no control over his campaign. At a speech in
New Hampshire, DeSantis adjusted his approach to appear more personal, offering an anecdote about going to
Fenway Park while on the
Yale Bulldogs baseball team. Later that month, DeSantis received criticism from Trump supporters for referring to them as "listless vessels".
Iowa caucus and withdrawal The 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses were held on January 15, 2024. DeSantis placed second, winning 21.23% of the vote and 9 delegates, losing to Trump by a 30-point margin. Analysts described the results as heavily damaging DeSantis's campaign. On January 21, 2024, DeSantis suspended his campaign prior to the
New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, endorsing Trump. Prior to his announcement,
The New York Times had reported that DeSantis was expected to withdraw his candidacy. According to a donor, DeSantis lacked financial support. The Trump campaign was aware that DeSantis was tendering a campaign suspension but did not expect him to endorse Trump. Candidate
Nikki Haley said DeSantis ran a "great race" and she wished him well. Her campaign said it did not expect her chances to be affected by DeSantis's withdrawal. ==Financials==