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Florida student tracking Elon Musk’s jet now doing same with Gov. DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis talks with reporters after speaking at a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Sioux Center, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall, Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jack Sweeney, the University of Central Florida student that made national headlines with his Twitter account that tracked Elon Musk’s jet, now appears to be doing the same with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A Twitter account launched this month called @DeSantisJet already has nearly 8,000 followers.

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@ElonJet, the account run by Sweeney was suspended, prompting a new account called @ElonJetNextDay to be launched that has results that are delayed by at least 24 hours, according to the account’s profile.

Earlier this month, Sweeney sat down for an interview with Florida’s Fourth Estate hosts Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden.

He said he didn’t mean to start a battle with one of the most powerful men in tech, but that’s exactly where he has found himself.

Sweeney said it all started when he was just a child. His dad worked in the airline industry, so he would track planes to make sure his dad would be home on time.

“And then I had an interest in Elon Musk, and where he was, what he was doing. And then I figured that he had a private jet. And that I could track it myself. But nobody was really doing it. So I started doing it during my free time during COVID,” he said.

Despite all of the controversy surrounding his introduction to the tech industry, Sweeney said he would like to continue working in the industry professionally.

“I think in the future I might want to do (something) with AI and GPT, stuff like that, it’s very interesting,” Sweeney said.

Gov. DeSantis is expected to launch his 2024 presidential campaign next week, according to CBS News.

CBS News reported that DeSantis plans to officially file with the Federal Election Commission to formalize his presidential candidacy.

Sources told CBS News that a formal kickoff event is planned closer to June 1.


About the Authors
Jacob Langston headshot

Jacob joined ClickOrlando.com in 2022. He spent 19 years at the Orlando Sentinel, mostly as a photojournalist and video journalist, before joining Spectrum News 13 as a web editor and digital journalist in 2021.

Tiffany Browne headshot

Tiffany is a Edward R. Murrow Award winning journalist. She produces WKMG Hits the Road, along with Florida's Fourth Estate and Talk to Tom.

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