DeSantis for president? He might have a supporter in Elon Musk

One of Twitter’s most prominent posters — and one of the world’s richest and most influential men — indicated in the wee hours Wednesday morning he was considering a new candidate to support for the 2024 presidential election: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The inventor and industrialist Elon Musk suggested he was favoring DeSantis on Twitter, replying to another user who asked him which way he was “leaning” in his choice for president in 2024.

“DeSantis,” Musk replied, in a tweet tagged at 3:38 a.m.

The response was embedded in a larger politically themed thread from Musk, who announced he had voted for Republican candidate Mayra Flores in a special House election held in Texas on Tuesday. He declared that Flores’ victory was proof that a “massive red wave” would occur during this year’s midterm elections, an assessment generally shared by many political prognosticators amid President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings.

Musk has been among Biden’s foremost critics, criticizing the president for exacerbating inflation and ignoring his electric automobile company, Tesla. It’s part of a broader turn away from the Democratic Party and liberalism more generally for Musk, who has become a frequent critic of the left on a range of topics in recent years.

For his part, DeSantis hasn’t yet said if he would even run for president in 2024, focusing instead on his gubernatorial re-election campaign this year.

But whether he would launch a White House bid is nonetheless a major subject of conversation among Republicans across the country, many of whom would wonder if he’d be willing to run against former President Donald Trump in a GOP primary.

Asked in the same thread what he thought of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Musk said he supported Yang in 2020 “but DeSantis has a better chance of winning.”

DeSantis was asked about Musk’s potential support at a press conference Wednesday, responding that he was focused on his re-election race first.

“But with Elon Musk, what I would say is, you know, I welcome support from African Americans,” the governor said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “What can I say?”

Musk was born in South Africa.

A few early morning tweets, of course, fall well short of a formal endorsement. And Musk said he still might not support a Republican at all, saying he was thinking of creating a “Super Moderate Super PAC” that would support middle-of-the-road candidates from both parties.

Musk, named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2021, is in the process of buying Twitter. Though barred by the Constitution from running for president, he has generated buzz in recent years over his own political ambitions.

This story was updated at 12 p.m. to include DeSantis’ comments.

This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 11:34 AM.