Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (44) announced on Wednesday, as expected, that he will fight to become the Republican candidate in next year’s presidential election. DeSantis filed his paperwork with the United States Election Commission. Originally, it was expected that he would announce his candidacy in a conversation with Twitter boss Elon Musk closer to midnight Norwegian time. Trump without the scandals Ron DeSantis has been called Donald Trump without all the scandals. And in his home state of Florida, he has carried out a number of symbolic Republican matters of the heart: Introduced a ban on abortion after week six. It is easier to sentence adults who abuse children to death. He has banned the teaching of sexual orientation and issues of gender identity for all age levels, in addition to a ban on teaching about structural racism. PROTEST: Michele Rayner (TV) hugs his wife Bianca Goolsby during a protest against the law banning education about gender identity and sexual orientation in Florida in March. Photo: Martha Asencio-Rhine / AP 44-year-old DeSantis hopes it can convince enough Republicans to choose him over 76-year-old Donald Trump when state nominations begin next year. Annoys Trump Tim Scott recently announced that he too will be the Republican presidential candidate. Nikki Haley has previously done the same. Nevertheless, everything suggests that this will be a fight between two people: Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. This is what associate professor Sofie Høgestøl at the University of Oslo says to news. Sofie Høgestøl Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – Everything depends on a race between two people. DeSantis and Trump. And politically, they are not that different. – Evil tongues say DeSantis is a smarter version of Trump, says Høgestøl. DeSantis himself says he is more proactive. DeSantis announcing his candidacy on Twitter surprised many. Also Høgestøl. She describes the Florida governor as a traditional politician, with a committed wife and who takes the children to photos and events. A bit “old school”, quite simply. TRADITIONAL: DeSantis and family in familiar style last November. Photo: GIORGIO VIERA / AFP – Perhaps this is an attempt to appear a bit in the times. The collaboration with Elon Musk is very exciting. After all, the two have faced the same things, they are both “anti-woke”, says Høgestøl. Woke is often used to describe a critical and vigilant attitude towards statements about racism and discrimination. DeSantis calls Florida “where the woke come to die.” Photo: John Raoux / AP After Elon Musk bought Twitter, he fired half of the employees and, according to an internal memo, lost millions of dollars every day. Musk, who himself has 140 million followers on Twitter, has on several occasions shared incorrect information, including about the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6. Recently he was criticized for anti-Semitism after he wrote that billionaire and philanthropist George Soros “hates humanity”. Analysts believe the conversation with DeSantis is an attempt to save Twitter from the many scandals that have followed the company since Musk bought it last year. But cooperation with Musk can also be good for DeSantis, says Høgestøl. – You have to assume that Musk will give his support – and money – to DeSantis, she says. Twitter owner Elon Musk has been in rough weather since he bought the company. Photo: Michel Euler / AP Trump has a big lead in the polls After DeSantis made a landslide election in Florida last November, he also did well in the polls. But since then it has gone downhill. Now Donald Trump leads by a very good margin against Ron DeSantis. In the average of opinion polls on Real Clear Politics, Trump leads by a whopping 36.9 percentage points over his rival. But 2024 is still a long way off. And the fact that Trump is running for president after losing a presidential election is, like much of what Trump does, very unusual. – Usually you are looking to lose a presidential election, says Høgestøl. Recently, Donald Trump was ordered to pay restitution for sexually assaulting E Jean Carroll. It has not affected Trump’s support to an appreciable extent. OLD FRIENDS: Ron DeSantis met then-President Donald Trump in the White House in 2020. Photo: CARLOS BARRIA / Reuters – Was closely linked Donald Trump has been important to DeSantis’ political career, Høgestøl points out: – DeSantis’ political career is closely linked to Trump and Trump endorsed him for governor in 2018. Santis is a Trump creation. And so Trump, who also lives in Florida, is clearly annoyed that his former ally is now challenging him. LEADER: Trump leads with a big lead in the opinion polls. Photo: AP What does DeSantis want with the United States? He himself says he wants to make the whole United States like Florida. Among other things with similarly strict conservative laws. Or with “courage to be free,” as he writes in the book of the same title. Høgestøl, who has read DeSantis’ book, says his message is very similar to Trump’s: – The message is that “The United States is going downhill, and I can fix it”, interspersed with strong criticism of elites and a desire for more power for the president over the civil service , says Høgestøl. The war in Ukraine, the election in the United States and China’s growing influence in the world. Urix gathers all news’s correspondents on a stage in Oslo to talk about the major foreign policy issues.
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