DeSantis will announce his 2024 bid on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce his candidacy for president Wednesday at 6 p.m. EST during a Twitter Spaces interview with Elon Musk, a spokesperson for DeSantis confirmed to Semafor.

DeSantis is former President Donald Trump’s most formidable challenger for the Republican nomination, according to public opinion polls.

Tomorrow’s announcement follows weeks of speculation as to when the Florida governor planned to officially hop into the race. He’s currently trailing Trump in national polls, and the former president’s campaign team has been focused on trying to kneecap DeSantis’ presidential bid before it begins.

DeSantis’ upcoming announcement coincides with a two-day donor event he’s hosting in Miami, and he plans to hit the ground running with visits to early voting states next week.

He’ll also appear on “Fox News Tonight” with host Trey Gowdy shortly after the announcement on Wednesday, according to the network.

DeSantis’s decision to announce on Twitter is a blow to Fox News, once the unchallenged central force in conservative media. Musk’s exclusive is the latest in a series of moves that pull Twitter in the direction of a conservative audience — a shift that could pay off in the currency of attention, if not dollars.

Musk pledged to make Twitter a haven for speech ever since his $44 billion acquisition of the platform last year, having subsequently reinstated several high-profile right wing accounts that had been previously banned for violating community guidelines.

Musk more recently welcomed Tucker Carlson, who will host his new political talk show on Twitter.

“Announcing on Twitter is perfect for Ron DeSantis,” a Trump advisor texted Semafor. “This way he doesn’t have to interact with people and the media can’t ask him any questions.”