DeSantis
© The AtlanticFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is stepping into the growing dispute between Elon Musk and Twitter over the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's hostile takeover of the social media company.

During a Tuesday news conference, DeSantis said that the state's lawyers were reviewing options for legal action against Twitter's Board of Directors, to "hold them accountable for breaching their fiduciary duty." Florida, through its Retirement System pension fund, is an investor in Twitter.

The move comes after the Wall Street Journal on Monday quoted sources who said that Twitter plans to reject Musk's bid to purchase the company at $54.20 per share, an 18 percent premium over the closing price of $45.08 on the day of his offer.

Shortly after Musk announced his bid, Twitter's board activated a "poison pill" defense mechanism against an informal attempt by Musk to buy more stock, whereby new shares would be sold at a discount to dilute his control over the company. Musk is currently Twitter's largest individual shareholder, owning 9 percent of its stock. Musk had cited Twitter's free speech policies as the reason for his bid.

In his remarks, DeSantis claimed that Twitter's motivation for halting Musk's acquisition was political rather than financial:
"They rejected it because they know they can't control Elon Musk. They know that he will not accept the narrative and that their little play toy of Twitter, it would not be used to enforce orthodoxy. And so that's why they did it. It was not, in my judgment, because it wasn't a good business deal."
DeSantis also cited instances of Twitter placing restrictions on accounts of media outlets such as the New York Post and Babylon Bee as evidence of his claims.

DeSantis claimed that Florida's purchase of Twitter stock had been "stagnant" and "an injury to the fund," hinting at a lawsuit by the state against Twitter's board. He further claimed that, given Musk's offer of a 20% premium on existing prices, Twitter's approval of the sale would be a "massive return for shareholders," which the rejection of Musk's bid would prevent.

This is not the first time DeSantis has sparred with Twitter and other social media companies.

In May of last year, he signed legislation aiming to prevent "de-platforming" — or the removal of user content deemed sensitive but not illegal — from these platforms, for which Twitter has been criticized. A federal district court in Florida issued an injunction against that law in July.