Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign announcement was plagued by malfunctions on Twitter Spaces Wednesday that prevented him from speaking on the platform more than 20 minutes after the program was set to begin—a rocky start to DeSantis’ 2024 bid that comes as he trails former President Donald Trump by more than 30 points in early polls.
Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty ... [+]
DeSantis was expected to announce his presidential bid on Twitter Spaces at 6 p.m., marking a pivotal moment for the 2024 presidential contest that pits DeSantis against his one-time ally.
The conversation, hosted by tech entrepreneur and DeSantis supporter David Sacks on Twitter Spaces, got off to a glitchy start with various stops and fits and echoes in the audio recording that Twitter owner Elon Musk blamed on the “massive” audience.
After Sacks introduced Musk and briefly spoke about how he came to support DeSantis over the governor’s less restrictive Covid-19 policies, the audio stopped less than five minutes into the program and had yet to restart more than 15 minutes later.
The interview comes after DeSantis filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission earlier Wednesday declaring his candidacy.
He also announced his candidacy in a video where he touted Florida’s record of putting “facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder” and declared “I’m running for president to lead our great American comeback.”
On Twitter’s part, the decision to announce a presidential run on the platform aligns with Musk’s shift to the right and adds to speculation that he will endorse DeSantis. Still, Musk reportedly said Tuesday he doesn’t plan to support any particular candidate and instead hopes to make Twitter a public forum of sorts during the upcoming election cycle.