Prominent US Republican Ron DeSantis plans to announce his expected bid for the 2024 presidential election on Wednesday, according to several reports. In a conversation broadcast there with Twitter boss Elon Musk, the governor of Florida is said to announce his plan to become a Republican candidate and challenge President Joe Biden, according to US broadcasters Fox and NBC. The event is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. local time (midnight CEST).

Musk confirmed to the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he would be interviewing DeSantis. “He has quite an announcement to make,” Musk said. The conversation will not be scripted but spontaneous. When asked who he favored for the 2024 election, the multi-billionaire said he and most Americans want someone in office who is “reasonably normal” – apparently a jab at erratic ex-President Donald Trump.

Ron DeSantis is considered Trump’s strongest Republican competitor

According to polls, the 44-year-old conservative hardliner is currently the most promising Republican candidate alongside former President Donald Trump. Trump had already announced in November that he would enter the race for the presidential candidacy for the 2024 election. DeSantis has been governor of the southern US state of Florida since early 2019. In November 2022, he was confirmed in office with a strong result – which also strengthened his position in view of his striving for higher things.

He has long been considered Trump’s biggest internal party competitor, after years ago he was a kind of mentor to him. Before the father of three DeSantis made a career as a politician, he attended the elite universities of Yale and Harvard, was in the Navy – and deployed in Iraq. Before being elected governor, DeSantis served several years as a representative in the House of Representatives.