Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will visit several early voting states as an official 2024 GOP presidential candidate, his campaign announced Thursday, following a glitch-plagued Twitter Spaces campaign launch.
DeSantis’ “Great American Comeback Tour” will kick off next Tuesday in Iowa, with stops planned in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Pella and Cedar Rapids, The Hill reported, citing campaign officials.
The popular Republican governor will travel to New Hampshire on Thursday and has plans to visit Laconia, Rochester, Salem and Manchester, before heading down to South Carolina. DeSantis is scheduled to stop in Beaufort, Lexington and Greenville on the final leg of the tour in the Palmetto State.
The Hill reported that DeSantis’ first formal campaign events will take place on the tristate tour and the governor’s campaign manager, Generra Peck, said making early state voters aware of DeSantis’ message is a high priority.
“Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states,” Peck said in a statement. “No one will work harder than Governor DeSantis to share his vision with the country — he has only begun to fight.”
DeSantis entered the Republican primary late Wednesday, with his campaign releasing a video announcement as he participated in a Twitter Spaces conversation with platform CEO Elon Musk. The exchange was plagued by technical glitches and was widely mocked by both the left and the right on social media.
Former President Donald Trump, considered DeSantis’ biggest competition for the Republican nomination, took to his Truth Social account to lambast DeSantis’ presidential rollout.
"'Rob,' My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!), yours does not! (per my conversation with Kim Jung Un, of North Korea, soon to become my friend!)," Trump posted Wednesday.
Trump also posted a video to Truth Social showing him at a rally interspersed with a shot of Elon Musk's account in Twitter Spaces with the caption "Preparing to Launch." A voice is heard in the background saying, "We are kind of melting the servers." And he posted another video titled "Ron! 2024."
The governor’s campaign found the silver lining, however, pointing out that he raised $1 million within the first hour of his announcement.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.