Anti-DeSantis protesters demonstrate outside Miami hotel amid meeting of governor’s donors

Protest came hours before Florida governor announced bid at chaotic Twitter event

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.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr DeSantis filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.

The long-awaited move by the Florida governor follows a campaign announcement video released a day earlier by his wife, Casey, on Twitter.

A video of the protest was posted to Twitter by Natasha Korecki of NBC News.

The rising Republican star is in his second term as governor of the trending-red Sunshine State, having won re-election by double digits just last year. He previously won election to office in 2018 by a fraction of a percentage point.

But not everyone is happy that he is taking his far-right brand of politics to the national stage.

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

“Ban DeSantis not books” one sign reads.
“Protect trans youth,” reads another.

Crowd chanting “fuck DeSantis” pic.twitter.com/XRxSTn3kIH

— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) May 24, 2023

Signs also read “Ban DeSantis not books” and “Protect trans youth.”

Earlier this month, more than a dozen people were arrested for protesting outside Mr DeSantis’s Florida Capitol office.

The 14 arrested were charged with misdemeanour trespass and were booked into the Leon County Jail, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The protest was organised by a human rights group called the Dream Defenders.

Mr DeSantis has leaned heavily into right-wing culture war issues during his time as Florida governor and will hope that helps him in his bid to win the GOP presidential nomination.

Months of polling have shown him consistently behind Donald Trump in a Republican primary matchup.

That same polling has shown him in the double digits, however, which is consistently better than rivals such as Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Asa Hutchinson and others.