PREVIEW - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis To Announce 2024 Presidential Bid On Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2023) Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to announce on Wednesday that he will run for US president in the 2024 election, a source confirmed to Sputnik.

DeSantis is set to make his announcement at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday during a live audio discussion with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter.

The 44-year-old DeSantis has served as governor of the state of Florida since January 2019, but recently emerged as former President Donald Trump's top challenger for the Republican ticket to the White House in 2024.

The Florida governor has won Republican voters over with his anti-COVID-19 restrictions policies, the deployment of Florida law enforcement officers to bolster security on the US southern border, transporting immigrants to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions and supporting restrictive LGBTQ laws in Florida.

DeSantis also signed a state law that would limit Chinese purchases of farm land and property located near US military sites in Florida.

However, according to political analysis website Real Clear politics, Trump holds a 37-point lead over DeSantis among Republican voters as of Tuesday evening.

Earlier this year, DeSantis went on a world tour to boost his foreign policy credentials, visiting US allied states such as Israel, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

DeSantis served in the US Navy from 2004 to 2019 as a prosecutor, which included brief stints in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He also served as a legal adviser to SEAL Team 1.