Mark Levin, the host of “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Fox News, found himself at the center of controversy when he tweeted a link to Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign fundraising page shortly after the Florida governor announced his candidacy. This move didn’t sit well with supporters of former President Donald Trump, who is also vying for the Republican nomination.
DeSantis made his official announcement in a Twitter Spaces event, which encountered technical glitches and was delayed due to increased traffic overwhelming the platform’s servers. Supporters of DeSantis spun the crash as a testament to his popularity, although a former Twitter employee characterized Spaces as an ongoing beta test that never concluded, highlighting its unreliability.
Following the conclusion of the event, DeSantis appeared on “Fox News Tonight” to make his case to viewers. It was around this time that Mark Levin, a prominent figure with 3.5 million Twitter followers, tweeted a link to DeSantis’ WinRed donations page.
“Mark, Mark, Mark… So sad,” one replied. “F no,” tweeted another. Meanwhile, another user tweeted a GIF of Pepe the Frog wearing a clown wig and nose. “It’s over,” yet another user wrote. “Mark Levin has gone woke.” And another Twitter user appeared to be going through some things.
However, the response from blue checkmark supporters of Trump was far from positive. Many expressed disappointment and disapproval of Levin’s endorsement, with some replying with “F no” and others using GIFs and comments to convey their dissatisfaction. The incident prompted speculation that Levin had embraced “wokeness,” and some users seemed to be processing their emotions in their responses.
Levin’s tweet was not an isolated incident of a Fox News host linking to a candidate’s donation site. In 2019, Pete Hegseth had tweeted a link to conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer’s congressional campaign page, though the tweet was subsequently deleted.
Earlier on the same day, Levin, who had been a vocal supporter of former President Trump, hosted DeSantis on his radio show, which is not affiliated with Fox News Media. Toward the end of the interview, DeSantis urged listeners to visit his donation page.
Responding to the backlash, Levin took to Twitter to address the outrage, explaining that he frequently posts campaign websites of candidates he interviews on his radio show. He cited a recent example of sharing Vivek Ramaswamy’s website after an interview with the 2024 presidential hopeful.
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) March 30, 2023
