17:28 – DeSantis says, “We should do it again” when they thank him for the extra time. Wraps up by thanking everyone.

17:24 – DeSantis supports doing business in bit coin. No to a central bank digital currency.

17:19 – Dana Loesch joins conversation. Thanks DeSantis for 2A protections. Says DeSantis will be on her show tomorrow and has her vote in primary. Notes new ESG guidelines that caused Wells Fargo to quit doing business with longtime gun dealer in Florida. What can he do as POTUS to end these guidelines that discriminate against business? DeSantis asks what if ESG movement encourages collusion between banks and woke businesses. No ESG criteria in Florida pension funds. Provides protection against discrimination on religion, race in banking business.

17:15 – Chris Rufo asks about eliminating CRT from Florida’s public institutions, make sure they reflect Florida values. What is culture war strategy in D.C. ? DEI is unpopular with independents and some Democrats, not just Republicans. DeSantis notes humble beginnings, knows how regular people think. Not there to impose niche ideology.

17:10 – Radio show host enters the conversation. Thanks Musk for buying Twitter. Asks about immigration – what is bottom line assurance that DeSantis will get his agenda done when others promised and didn’t deliver? DeSantis says he doesn’t make promises lightly. Follows through. Understands leverage points of Article Two, for example. References Hurricane Ian and the bridge it knocked out. DeSantis got it rebuilt in days and reopened causeway 2 weeks later, though it wasn’t a state-owned bridge. Eliminated the bureaucracy, red tape. Mentions he sent help to Texas for securing the border when Governor Abbott asked.

17:06 – Going overtime. Border security – DeSantis says he’d reverse what Biden is doing. Asylum is legitimate but the ones coming are economic migrants who should apply in countries they travel through on way to U.S. Move to declare a national emergency over southern border. Hold cartels accountable. Build the wall. Stop the flow of drugs that are killing so many Americans. Day one issue. Will bring overwhelming amount of resources to the border to get the job done.

16:60: Chris Rufo enters conversation. Discussion turns to book banning and gay bans. Education in Florida – DeSantis says book ban is a hoax. Empowered parents to review books to state standards. Parents can flag books that are inappropriate with sexual materials. Racial history classes – not teaching CRT in K-6. Florida history standards include slavery, reconstruction. Purpose of schools is education, not indoctrination.

16:59 – All of Disney theme parks were open in 2020.

16:54 – Disney. Sacks asks about jobs cut at Disney. Why is fight still important even though he has already beat them. Disney supported injecting gender ideology in elementary schools. DeSantis won on that issue. Corporate culture was outed as injecting their own government without restrictions. DeSantis not comfortable with self-governing status. They have to live as everyone else. Republicans taking Disney’s side are “corportists.” Disney suing to get special privileges. Media used to attack GOP for being in pocket of big corporations, not DeSantis attacked for standing up to Disney.

16:49 – Congresssman Thomas Massie introduced. Thanks Musk for buying Twitter. Weaponization committee learns a lot through information learned from Twitter. Massie fanboys Musk – says he was an early buyer of a Tesla. DeSantis says he’ll reconstitute big government agencies when Massie asks what he will do if elected about government overreach. DeSantis says remove funding for what doesn’t work.

16:47 – DeSantis recites names of experts who helped develop Florida’s COVID policies. Public Health needs an overhaul in America.

16:44 – Dr. from California, who worked with DeSantis during COVID, is introduced. Speaks to lockdown decisions made in Florida vs nationally.

16:42 – Plug for Twitter Spaces as platform for politicians to speak directly to the people, sidestep the media. Let the people decide the narrative. Trashing Vanity Fair for their David Duke reference to this event hosted by Musk.

16:38 – Florida crime rate at 50 year low. It’s a farce for NAACP to say it’s unsafe in Florida. Colluding with legacy media to manufacture a narrative. Travel advisories don’t work. Highest quarter for tourism in the history of Florida last quarter. More blacks lead state agencies in DeSantis administration. Black students rank higher than most other states. Head of NAACP lives in Florida. Board members vacation in Florida.

16:37 – Twitter was expensive, free speech is priceless – Musk

16:35 – When Elon Musk purchased Twitter, he put his money where his mouth is. DeSantis says truth was censored during COVID. No more censorship on Twitter with Musk in charge. Musk says he’s committed to freedom of speech. Equal playing field.

16:34 – Why do the launch this way, DeSantis is asked. DeSantis says he chooses to go against the grain, ever since COVID.

16:33 – “Please join me in this mission.”

16:31 – There is no substitute for winning. If nominated, he will be elected. No excuses, he’ll get the job done.

16:26 – Sacks asks DeSantis if he has an announcement to make. DeSantis said he is running for POTUS. Launches into stump speech – American decline is not inevitable, it is a choice. We must restore sanity. Replace the woke mind virus – merit must trump (!) the woke mindset. Order must be maintained in American cities. Must reestablish integrity in our institution, including our military. Proud to be a veteran. Return the government to its rightful owners – we the people. Florida held the line with freedom was in the balance. Pledges to be an “energetic executive.” Shut down border, construct border wall, hold drug cartels accountable. “We will never surrender to the woke mob.”

16:25 – Audio is back. Yea!

16:21: A box popped up and said “Ended” so I’m not sure what the heck is happening.

16:19 – Welp. Still dead air. The counter says there are 656K connected to the livestream.

16:14 – Slow start, y’all. Hang in there with me.

16:13 – “Reallocating more server capability” – Musk says

16:10 – Frustrating. Audio feed just randomly cuts out. We can hear Musk troubleshooting the problem.

16:07 – David Sacks leads off introducing himself and welcoming everyone. Said Musk is sitting next to him. Audio is a little wonky – Sacks says there are so many tuning in that it’s melting the server.

16:03 – Waiting for Musk and DeSantis to enter. DeSantis has launched a new video campaign ad announcing his candidacy.

Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis will have a conversation moderated by David Sacks, a tech entrepreneur who is a Musk confidant and DeSantis supporter. It’s a new way of launching a campaign and it’s brilliant. It’s a good way to go around the legacy media and cable news networks. I wrote a post about the decision earlier today.

Musk’s entry is long-awaited and this is an interesting experiment for a launch. I’ll be listening to the Twitter Spaces broadcast and doing my best to keep you informed on what is being discussed. I assume DeSantis will be introducing himself to the audience. Or, at least, I hope that is what he’s focused on.

It’s a new experience for me. I have not used this part of Twitter before this event. Only using audio will be an adjustment. There is no video to watch.

Updates will be placed at the top of the post as they happen.