But if politics teaches one thing, it’s never to underestimate the power of novelty. DeSantis’ move was as unusual as Trump’s — whether it was rightly tuned to the moment remains to be seen (it might have had a better shot without the brutal technical difficulties). One thing is clear, though: Their announcements were as different as any two events in recent political history. The man once considered Trump-lite has, in this one way, completely differentiated himself from his rival.
By the numbers:
Number of attendees:
Trump: Dozens lining the escalator, dozens at the event (Trump said “thousands” in his speech)
DeSantis: Around 700,000 (before server crash), around 300,000 (after server crash)
Length of event:
Trump: 47 minutes
DeSantis: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Address of event:
Trump: 725 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10022
DeSantis: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1PlKQpVkwLvxE/ (tech glitches only); https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1eaJbrAlZjjJX/ (DeSantis speaking)
Setting:
Trump:
DeSantis:
Introductory remarks:
Trump: Ivanka Trump, Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions, Trump Organization
DeSantis: David Sacks, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and major DeSantis donor; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and owner of Twitter
Most triumphant moment:
Trump: The end of his speech: “Sadly, the American dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before, and we will make America great again.”
DeSantis: Part of his opening speech: “My pledge to you is this. If you nominate me, you can set your clock to January 20, 2025 at high noon, because on the west side of the U.S. Capitol I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States, no excuses. I will get the job done.”
Most awkward moment:
Trump: In the middle of a diatribe against former President Barack Obama, inviting him to play golf: “Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him, I actually would say. I have the best courses in the world, so I’d say, you know what, if he wants to — I have one right next to the White House, right on the Potomac. If he’d like to play, that’s fine.”
DeSantis: Aside from the painful technical difficulties to start, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) breathlessly telling Musk about how he owns a Tesla, and DeSantis chiming in to say, “He’s got the Tesla but his license plate is Kentucky coal.”
Major audience reaction:
Trump: “We want Trump!”
DeSantis: “It crashed again.”
First reference to immigrants:
Trump: “The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. … When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.”
DeSantis: “I’ve put a lot of my capital as Florida Governor involved in combating illegal immigration. We banned sanctuary cities my first year. We just did a strong anti illegal immigration bill in Florida that’s working. I put marine assets in the Florida Keys to help the Coast Guard repel boats from places like Haiti. I have people at the southern border right now helping Texas and we’ve even been able to relocate illegal aliens to places like Martha’s Vineyard.”
References to China:
Trump: 23
DeSantis: 0
References to anything “woke”:
Trump: 0
DeSantis: 6
References to censorship:
Trump: 0
DeSantis: 5
References to Twitter:
Trump: 0
DeSantis: 5
References to a border wall:
Trump: 2
DeSantis: 2
References to Tom Brady:
Trump: 1
DeSantis: 0
References to “the media”:
Trump: 0
DeSantis: 10
References to family:
Trump: 8
DeSantis: 1
Number of family members on hand for the announcement:
Trump: 11
DeSantis: Unknown
Timing of official announcement:
Trump: 16 minutes into speech
DeSantis: 25 minutes into Twitter Space
Some other notables in the room:
Trump: Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, Jared Kushner
DeSantis: Caitlyn Jenner, Megyn Kelly, Eric Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Libs of TikTok
Number of times “Rockin’ in the Free World” by Neil Young played:
Trump: 3
DeSantis: 0
Person next to him:
Trump:
DeSantis (virtually):
