Billionaire says he prefers 'someone reasonable and centrist' but so far he has been let down by Democrats
Elon Musk says he will support Donald Trump's arch-rival, Ron DeSantis, in 2024 if the governor of Florida runs for president.
“Yes”, Musk said in a tweet when asked if he would support DeSantis in 2024, after saying he had yet to find his ideal candidate among the Democrats. “My choice for president for 2024 is someone who is reasonable and centrist. I wish that would happen to a Biden administration, but I've been disappointed so far,” Musk tweeted.
The businessman's remarks are the clearest sign of his political support after he indicated in June this year that he was still considering a Republican preference for the presidency but that he was "leaning towards" DeSantis.
The move may prove to be a boost for DeSantis in what Republicans expect to be a bitter battle between Trump and DeSantis for the presidential nomination, with some predicting "a lot of blood on the floor" in a showdown between the two. The governor of Florida won a landslide victory in this month's midterm elections, while Trump was criticized for the Republican Party's failure to deliver the "red wave" many promised after the loss of the key candidate he supported.
Musk also said late Friday that he was "fine with Trump not tweeting" after his account was reinstated last weekend. “What's important is that Twitter fixes the egregious error in banning its account, even though there was no violation of the law or terms of service. Removing the sitting president's platform undermines public trust in Twitter for half of America.
Twitter banned Trump after the January 6 attacks last year, saying his posts were "very likely to encourage and inspire people to imitate the criminal acts that occurred at the US Capitol". Trump was also banned from Facebook, Instagram and YouTube after the riots.
Musk's tenure at Twitter has been turbulent, with its owner acknowledging that Twitter has seen a "massive" drop in ad revenue amid concerns about its plans to moderate content on the platform, including the fate of banned accounts.
He had told Twitter employees that "roughly half" of the platform's revenue would have to come from subscriptions to "survive the impending economic downturn". According to Twitter's latest annual results, advertising accounts for 90% of its $5.1 billion revenue.
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