As Ron DeSantis announces his presidential campaign, his main rival Donald Trump has seized on the rumour that the Florida Governor has been spotted eating pudding with his bare hands.

This is the bizarre story behind the saga that’s now been turned into a campaign insult in the burgeoning fight between the ex-president and his former ally.

Protesters demonstrated outside a luxury hotel in Miami as wealth donors to newly announced 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis met.

The protest assembled outside the city’s Four Seasons hotel hours before Mr DeSantis announced his bid for the presidency in a chaotic Twitter event with Elon Musk. Mr DeSantis was not actually present at the hotel, according to the Miami Herald.

The Four Seasons crowd – which seemingly numbered around 100 protesters, according to the Miami Herald – chanted “F*** DeSantis” as the meeting took place.

John Bowden profiles the Yale-educated governor who has become the highest-profile Republican seeking to dethrone Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s campaign launched a new ad on Twitter taking aim at Ron DeSantis moments after the Florida governor announced his formal bid for the 2024 presidency.

The ad includes images of Mr DeSantis with president Joe Biden and asks: “Why would we ever settle for Trump imposters?”

It also includes a clip of Mr DeSantis sitting with a child and pointing to a Trump campaign sign as the governor is heard reading, “Make America Great Again.”

Andrew Feinberg and Eric Garcia write:

He’s a ubiquitous presence in conservative media with a reputation as an anti-woke warrior who has used a compliant state legislature to make Florida a mecca for Trump-era Republicanism.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign raised $1m in one hour on Wednesday following his 2024 presidential announcement, a spokesperson has said.

Bryan Griffin, who resigned as the governor’s spokesperson recently to join his political operation, said the funds were raised online.

“There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet,” he said in a tweet.

“Washington is next. $1 million raised online in one hour… and counting!”

Ron DeSantis has been mocked for a bizarre video that shows him roaring with laughter at an Iowa car show.

Watch and cringe through the link below:

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to dismiss FBI director Christopher Wray if elected as president, hours after he formally launched his 2024 campaign.

In an interview with Fox News Mr DeSantis said that the the bureau and the Justice Department have “lost their way” and allowed themselves to be “weaponised” against Americans.

“No, I would not keep Chris Wray as director of the FBI. There’ll be a new one on day one,” he said.

He added that he would nominate an attorney general with a “strong backbone” who must be able to do his job in the face of attacks by left-wing media like the Washington Post and New York Times.

“You’re going to get attacked by CNN. And you’ve got to wear that as a badge of honor. You can’t try to please polite society because otherwise you’ll just get captured by the institution itself,” he said.

“And I think the DOJ (Department of Justice) and FBI have lost their way. I think that they’ve been weaponized against Americans who think like me and you. And I think that they become very partisan.”

The video served as a teaser for Mr DeSantis’ campaign announcement. But the placement of the flag in it triggered discussion online about flag etiquette and American vexillological history that left one aide to Mr DeSantis open to mockery for gaps in her knowledge.

Ron DeSantis’s wife Casey launched her husband’s 2024 presidential bid by posting a video of the Florida governor getting ready to go on stage in front of an American flag.

Florida’s first lady posted the video to Twitter on Tuesday night, the day before Mr DeSantis formally announced his campaign in a Twitter event with Elon Musk.

“America is worth the fight… Every. Single. Time,” Ms DeSantis tweeted along with the expensively produced video.

Later on Wednesday after his official campaign launch she posted another tweet that said that Mr DeSantis is “ready to lead our Great American Comeback!”