Former White House adviser Steve Bannon described Ron DeSantis as "a little on the spectrum," as the Florida governor entered the 2024 presidential race.
Bannon, who worked for Donald Trump when he was president, made the remarks ahead of DeSantis' formal announcement during a conversation on Twitter with the social media company's owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
DeSantis officially announced his White House bid on Wednesday after months of speculation that he would enter the race. He quickly faced criticism from Trump, who has the lead among potential GOP primary voters in a slew of polls.
Bannon discussed Musk and DeSantis' Twitter Spaces conversation in his War Room podcast before the event took place. Video of his comments was shared to Twitter by journalist Aaron Rupar on Wednesday.
After noting that the Twitter Spaces event would only be audio, Bannon said: "I know Elon's on the spectrum. And Ron's a little on the spectrum but it's quite a bizarre launch."
Bannon was referring to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes as "a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain."
Musk has previously discussed growing up with Asperger's syndrome, which was previously diagnosed separately, along with a number of other diagnoses that now come under ASD.
There is no evidence to support speculation that DeSantis has ASD, but some conservative figures on Twitter joined Bannon in suggesting the governor is "on the spectrum."
"Ron DeSantis is 100% on the Spectrum," far-right activist Laura Loomer tweeted on Wednesday. "Can we finally talk about this?"
Grace Chong, CFO/COO of War Room, tweeted on Wednesday: "Trump does it BIGGER, BETTER, and with HEART. Unlike that guy on the spectrum. Trump is so right on this. DeSantis is doing some bizarre things lately and I think we all truly see a loser in him. Trump 2024."
"Elon is quite open about the fact that he is on the spectrum," Brendan Dilley, host of The Dilley Show and a Trump supporter, wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. "We have sound reason to believe that DeSantis is on the spectrum. What could go wrong during their interview?"
DeSantis' campaign launch on Wednesday was hit by a technical glitch when the livestream on Twitter didn't function correctly, causing the event to start 20 minutes late.
The Florida governor is seen as former President Trump's strongest rival for the Republican presidential nomination and Trump was quick to criticize DeSantis' campaign launch.
"Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Is the DeSantis launch FATAL? Yes!"
Newsweek has reached out to the DeSantis campaign via email for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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