Elon Musk says he will back Trump rival Ron DeSantis in 2024 if he runs for president

Elon Musk has said that he will support Florida governor Ron DeSantis if he runs to be President at the next election.

Mr DeSantis has emerged as the strongest potential rival to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination since winning a second term as governor at the midterm elections two weeks ago. He defeated Democratic opponent Charlie Crist by nearly 20 percentage points.

Mr Trump has already announced his intention to run to be the 2024 Republican candidate and many expect the Florida governor to do the same.

When asked if he would support Mr DeSantis in 2024, the Twitter owner replied “yes” and suggested he had not found his ideal candidate among Democrats.

"My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would be the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far," he added.

Under Florida law, Mr DeSantis would be required to step down if he won the Republican nomination.

But Republican legislators in Florida suggested this week that they would support allowing the governor to stay on while he campaigned for the White House.

Paul Renner, the Speaker of the Florida House, and Kathleen Passidomo, president of the Florida Senate, said on Tuesday that they backed the proposed change.

"If an individual who is Florida governor is running for President, I think he should be allowed to do it. I really do," Ms Passidomo said. "That’s a big honour and a privilege, so it is a good idea."

The midterms were disappointing for the Republicans and Mr Trump when a predicted “red wave” failed to materialise.

The party regained control of the House of Representatives but only with a narrow majority.

It failed to take back the Senate and many of the former President’s endorsed candidates were defeated in key races.

This comes after the tech mogul reinstated Mr Trump’s Twitter account after he was suspended from the platform following the Capitol Hill riots.

The former President is yet to use the platform since his account was reinstated.