No, Ron DeSantis, you didn’t break the internet with your embarrassing Twitter Presidency bid
After ‘subtly’ hinting for months, Republican politician and glorified bin bag Ron DeSantis has officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 US Presidential elections. And while this is an incredibly sad and traumatising moment for many of us, particularly considering the Florida Governor’s heinous political legacy, lots of us were able to take comfort in the fact that DeSantis’ rogue Twitter announcement went monumentally wrong.
According to the BBC, DeSantis had planned to make the announcement through a Twitter livestream yesterday evening on Wednesday 24 May 2023. However, due to some serious technical malfunctions the livestream didn’t begin till 20 minutes after the intended start time.
So, by the time the Governor was prepped and ready to begin his long-winded spiel, hundreds of thousands of Twitter users had already given up and signed off… What a shame.
DeSantis told those four or five remaining viewers: “I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback.” This so-called “comeback” he speaks of appears to consist of a series of horrific anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-women waves of legislation he has single-handedly spearheaded over the past few years.
While there are too many bills to dive into, let’s quickly run down some of the most shocking decisions DeSantis has been behind since becoming Governor of Florida in 2019.
In April of this year, the right-wing politician approved a ban on abortions after only six weeks of pregnancy. Signing the bill into law, DeSantis stated: “We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” as reported by The Guardian.
Most recently, he signed a bill which enables medical professionals and for-profit insurers to deny patients care based on religious, moral or ethical reasons or beliefs—a crushing piece of legislation which will undoubtedly harm the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals and has been accurately named the ‘Let Them Die’ Act on Twitter.
Oh, and all of this isn’t even touching upon the significant voter suppression laws or irresponsible COVID-19 pandemic policies he’s pushed forward. The list could truly go on and on.
DeSantis is an evil person. He’s built his political career off of erasing the rights of minorities and those who have already been facing mounting discrimination in the US. The Governor has created an atmosphere of fear which focuses on isolating anyone who doesn’t fit into the white/Republican/Christian and Catholic archetype. Things have gotten so hostile in his home state that human rights groups have also begun actively discouraging queer individuals from visiting.
DeSantis is in many ways considered the Republican front-runner, his main opponent being of course former President Donald Trump. While some die-hard MAGA fans might still consider Trump to be the clear winner in this race, DeSantis has cultivated a very loyal community over the past few years, and (as ludacris as this sounds) has been considered more reliable and responsible than the former President.
Trump’s recent court case, in which he was found guilty for the defamation and sexual assault of American columnist E. Jean Carroll, might’ve also damaged his reputation among some of the more moderate Republicans.
From the looks of it, DeSantis and Trump are also not the best of friends. As reported by The Independent, mere hours before the Florida Governor’s Twitter livestream fiasco, Trump took to his personal social media platform TRUTH Social to admonish his rival, resorting to nicknames such as “Ron DeSanctus” and “Rob DeSanctimonious,” and stating that he “desperately needs a personality transplant.”
Now that DeSantis has officially confirmed his candidacy bid, we’re sure to see many more of these classic Trumpism comments over the following months. Either way, it’s safe to say that, as things currently stand, we as a global population are well and truly f*cked.
