美国国家公共电台 NPR--Fla. Gov. DeSantis announces presidential run on glitch-filled Twitter conversation

Fla. Gov. DeSantis announces presidential run on glitch-filled Twitter conversation

Transcript¹

NPR's Michel Martin talks to GOP political strategist Scott Jennings about Ron DeSantis' campaign, which kicked off with 20 minutes of technical difficulties as the Twitter live space was overwhelmed.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially announced that he is running for president in 2024, but the launch ended up as more of a crash landing. The conversation was set to take place live on Twitter with Twitter owner Elon Musk², but it began with 20 minutes of technical failures, long silences and echoing microphones as more than half a million people tried to join the conversation. When DeSantis finally was able to speak, he took on President Biden.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RON DESANTIS: Biden's allowed woke ideology³ to drive his agenda. We will never surrender to the woke mob, and we will leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history.

MARTIN: For more on how DeSantis's campaign moves forward from here, I'm joined now by Republican political strategist Scott Jennings. Mr. Jennings, welcome back. Thanks so much for joining us.

SCOTT JENNINGS: Thank you. Good morning.

MARTIN: So what signal do you think that Governor DeSantis was trying to send by announcing his run with this conversation on Twitter?

JENNINGS: Well, the overall message of DeSantis is really a statement about, I think, his rejection⁴ of the legacy⁵ media. And of course, we're all talking about it, so maybe they were looking for an out-of-the-box idea to generate conversation. But to me, it's about the media. DeSantis doesn't like the media, and he's trying to make this argument that we can bypass traditional media and run for president and contrast himself to Donald Trump⁶, who he would argue talks the talk on the media but won't walk the walk because he still craves⁷ their attention. So I really think it's a larger cultural conversation he wants to have about Republicans, who, by the way, agree with DeSantis. They don't like the media. They don't trust the media. And he's really trying to say, let's bypass them and make them irrelevant⁸.

MARTIN: You mean the legacy media? I assume you're not talking about Fox and the other conservative media outlets⁹. Or are you?

JENNINGS: Yeah, legacy mainstream¹⁰ media and the political journalists.

MARTIN: OK.

JENNINGS: Absolutely.

MARTIN: So as we mentioned, technical difficulties - embarrassing, you know, awkward. We always try to remind people Twitter is not real life. But if you were advising the DeSantis campaign, how would you be talking about it, or would you be talking about it? And do you think this follows him or has any meaning beyond last night?

JENNINGS: Well, the spin they have is the correct spin. You know, obviously, the interest was so great that it overwhelmed this platform, and who, other than Donald Trump, would have triggered such a response and sort of national conversation about something? So that's a good thing. They also raised a bunch of money. I think where they lost out was on the visuals. Presidential campaign launches often provide striking visuals that give people a chance to see you in a way that gives them the idea that this looks like a president. So they lost out on that. So I know they've launched a schedule for an upcoming tour. I would be thinking about how to stage him in a way that gives people the idea that, yep, this looks like a guy who could be the president. So the visual piece of this is what's missing, and they can fix that over the next few days.

MARTIN: So speaking of the former president, he's really gone in on DeSantis over the last couple of months. But DeSantis really, for the most part, hasn't answered. Do you think that's been a mistake, and how should he counter now? Now he can't say, well, I'm not really running. We'll see, whatever. He is running. So should he answer, and how?

JENNINGS: Yeah, he's going to have to go right at Donald Trump. You can't - you know, the problem with subtlety¹¹ in politics is that not everyone gets it. And so you have to go right at it and make the argument, make the contrast. And I think he's going to start to do it. He's already started doing it on COVID. He may obviously talk about immigration as well and say Trump wasn't able to finish the job here. And I'm sure there's going to be some other topics, but you can't allude¹² to it. I think he just has to go right at it. There's really no other way. And I think what Republicans expect is you to fight for what you say you believe in. And beating around the bush is not fighting. They're going to expect him to go right after Trump. And I don't think there's any downside to doing it. The battle is joined. You're in the race now, and that's what people want to see you do. How badly do you want it?

MARTIN: Before we let you go, DeSantis, interestingly enough, is considered fairly reclusive for a politician. His people skills are often spoken about by the people who cover him or around him closely. Does this matter in a national campaign? How do you think that works?

JENNINGS: Well, I don't think he's any more reclusive than, say, Joe Biden, who rarely meets with the press either. I - look, he got reelected by 20 points in Florida. I think this conversation about his political skills is overblown. And I do think there's a dedicated¹³ cadre of people who really hate Ron DeSantis, and they're constantly trying to come up with reasons why he can't possibly succeed. I don't personally think this is going to be an issue.

MARTIN: OK.

JENNINGS: Every candidate has their own personality quirks¹⁴ and styles, but obviously there's something to him. Otherwise he wouldn't have won such a big victory in what previously¹⁵ had been a purple state.

MARTIN: That is Republican strategist Scott Jennings. Mr. Jennings, thanks so much for talking to us once again.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

3 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

4 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 craves   

渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• The tree craves calm but the wind will not drop. 树欲静而风不止。
• Victory would give him a passport to the riches he craves. 胜利将使他有机会获得自己梦寐以求的财富。

8 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 subtlety   

n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别

参考例句：

• He has shown enormous strength,great intelligence and great subtlety.他表现出充沛的精力、极大的智慧和高度的灵活性。
• The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.大多数听众都没有觉察到他讲话的微妙之处。

12 allude   

v.提及，暗指

参考例句：

• Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept.圣经中有许多经文间接地提到这样的概念。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles.她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

13 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

14 quirks   

n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖

参考例句：

• One of his quirks is that he refuses to travel by train. 他的怪癖之一是不愿乘火车旅行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All men have their own quirks and twists. 人人都有他们自己的怪癖和奇想。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。