On Wednesday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made his 2024 presidential campaign official — joining Twitter CEO Elon Musk in a live chat that was plagued with technical difficulties that ultimately led to thousands of people leaving the stream before the announcement.
The Twitter Spaces conversation with Musk and Republican donor David Sacks, a DeSantis supporter and close ally of Musk, eventually led to DeSantis’ campaign announcement — but the news was not shocking to most Americans for several reasons.
Many had already assumed for some time that DeSantis would run for president because of his work in passing strong conservative legislation in Florida and advocating for the measures to be implemented on a national stage. However, the news was even more predictable after the Florida governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, shared a campaign-style video of her husband the night before the Twitter Spaces interview.
America is worth the fight… Every. Single. Time. pic.twitter.com/lWNQ3DIXgp
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) May 23, 2023
DeSantis then shared a campaign video around two minutes before the Twitter Spaces conversation was supposed to happen — which was the same video as his wife shared, but with different audio.
I’m running for president to lead our Great American Comeback. pic.twitter.com/YmkWkLaVDg
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) May 24, 2023
After the technical difficulties finally subsided, where the audio cut in and out repeatedly and ultimately prompted the hosts to start another chatroom, DeSantis was finally able to make his announcement.
“I will get the job done. These past few years have given me a new appreciation for the fragility of our freedoms. I never thought I would see things in America that we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said when the audio was finally restored.
“But our founding fathers were keenly aware of the fragility of freedom,” DeSantis continued.
“They knew each generation would have a responsibility to safeguard freedom, and it’s our responsibility to do so at this important juncture in our nation’s history,” he added, asking Americans to invest in his campaign.
Meanwhile, critics are mocking DeSantis’ “failed” campaign launch. While some did celebrate his decision to choose a pro-free speech platform to launch his campaign instead of giving airtime and views to the mainstream media, they mocked him for the repeated crashing of the Twitter Spaces. Others blasted the Florida governor for his “monotone” speech, including journalist Tim Pool — who said that he still plans to support former President Donald Trump.
