Why DeSantis is right to lean into the culture war

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) officially entered the 2024 presidential race on Wednesday, kicking off his campaign in an unusual and rather uninspiring fashion. The governor’s Twitter Spaces chat with Elon Musk and David Sacks was plagued by technological glitches and "very online" questions about cryptocurrency and central banking, leaving much to be desired.

Still, there was a method to the madness. DeSantis’s decision to air his announcement live on Twitter rather than on traditional cable networks was clearly a shot at the media and part of an effort to make his campaign seem more personable and approachable. This effort seemed to find some success during the subsequent Q&A portion of DeSantis’s Twitter announcement, when Musk and Sacks chose a handful of audience members to ask the governor questions directly.