As we’ve reported, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to formally announce his long-expected presidential campaign Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET during a conversation with Elon Musk on Twitter.
On Tuesday afternoon, his wife Casey DeSantis teased the announcement with a 30-second Hollywood-style video featuring dramatic music and moody lighting. It opens with a crowd cheering, then the governor walking in front of a huge flag, seemingly getting ready for a big speech. He buttons his suit jacket, then purposely marches towards a curtain and begins to pull it open as if taking the stage to speak to a crowd. The video then fades to black.
Watch:
America is worth the fight… Every. Single. Time. pic.twitter.com/lWNQ3DIXgp
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) May 23, 2023
The narrator intones:
They call it faith because in the face of darkness you can see that brighter future. A faith that our best days lay ahead of us. But is it worth the fight? Do I have the courage? Is it worth the sacrifice? America has been worth it every single time.
It’s short and sweet, heavy on symbolism and patriotism, and light on substance. That’s not a criticism; the video was not meant to be a policy discussion—it was meant to get voters excited. For DeSantis fans, I think it achieved the desired result as it is well-produced and dramatic.
DeSantis will face an uphill battle for the Republican nomination, however, as former President Donald Trump has a strong lead in the polls (a recent Harvard Harris poll has it at 58-16) and the governor has not been able to make a dent in that margin for several months. However, we’ll see how the dynamics change once he’s officially running. He’s come off several strong legislative victories and in November 2022 cruised to reelection by the largest margin in 40 years.
Corporate media has certainly been paying attention, as they’ve been running hit piece after hit piece against him. They even went after his wife, showing once again just how disgustingly biased they’ve become. When was the last time you saw a takedown of Jill Biden?
(Read: Another Day, Another Lame Corporate Media Hit Piece on DeSantis Proving They’re Terrified of Him)
Speaking of the former president, Trump has not been shy about criticizing DeSantis and posted several negative posts about the governor on Truth Social Tuesday. They mostly were links to negative stories about the man he calls “DeSanctimonious:”
On Tuesday, Trump welcomed Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) to the presidential race by zinging DeSantis, writing “…Tim is a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who is totally unelectable.”
DeSantis is expected to soon file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission which will make the official start of his campaign. On Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET., meanwhile, he will appear with former GOP South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy on “Fox News Tonight” to make his first interview as an announced candidate.
Reaction on Twitter was mixed, with some fans tweeting things along the lines of “The wait is over! Time for a the [sic] American Revival to begin under a President DeSantis!” However, it appeared to me that there were more negative posts from Trump supporters who thoughts DeSantis was no Donald Trump.
Trump made DeSantis.
— Nathan | Classical Conservative (@TheClassicalCon) May 23, 2023
DeSantis will need to cause a major shift in the minds of the Republican electorate if he is to have any chance of catching the former president. This alone obviously won’t be enough to do it, but from an analyst’s perspective, it’s a strong ad.
See also:
Hillary Clinton Wades Into the DeSantis 2024 Campaign News, Promptly Tells on Herself
Hack Reporter Claimed DeSantis Ran From Her Questions, Then His Team Released the Video
Join the conversation as a VIP Member