On Wednesday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made an unconventional move by announcing his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential primary through an audio stream on Twitter Spaces, joined by the platform’s celebrity CEO Elon Musk.
Breaking away from the traditional stage appearances in front of supporters, DeSantis chose a unique method to kick off his Presidential campaign.
While it is very unusual for presidential candidates to launch their candidacy alongside a more prominent public and social figure, especially in the same virtual room, DeSantis opted for this approach. However, technical glitches hindered the audio stream.
Here are the five key takeaways from the inaugural night of the official DeSantis campaign.
Technical issues, #failuretolaunch
The launch of Governor DeSantis’ campaign on Twitter Spaces encountered significant challenges, as evidenced by the trending topic #failuretolaunch.
The initial moments of the conversation on Twitter Spaces, featuring DeSantis, Elon Musk, and moderator David Sacks, were plagued by several audio and video glitches. Microphone feedback and intermittent interruptions disrupted the stream, leaving Twitter users frustrated.
Sacks attributed the technical difficulties to the overwhelming number of listeners (almost 200,000 people tried to listen in), humorously comparing it to Musk’s previous company setbacks. These issues persisted for several minutes, causing further interruptions. It wasn’t until approximately 24 minutes into the event that they resolved the problem by hosting the stream on David Sacks’s account instead of Musk’s. The incident highlighted the importance of adequate preparation, including anticipating server demands when over 200,000 people attempted to listen in.
Failure to Launch Crashed #DeSaster pic.twitter.com/DYDGkM3NNB
— David Wolf (@DavidWolf777) May 24, 2023
DeSantis’s blunt speech
During his campaign announcement, the Florida Governor adhered closely to the platform he presented during his successful reelection bid. He emphasized his perspective from Tallahassee, stating that the rest of America is in a state of collapse.
DeSantis claimed that the border has “collapsed” and highlighted the issue of “spiking crime” in cities. He criticized President Biden, asserting that he “lacks vigor” and is influenced by the “woke mob.” DeSantis even went as far as labeling the President as a victim of the “woke mind virus.”
In his speech, DeSantis proclaimed, “We chose facts over fear. Education over indoctrination. Law and order over rioting and disorder.” These lines may sound familiar as they were taken from his victory speech delivered in November.
Concern about the election
During his address, DeSantis made a resolute declaration to his audience, pledging that if he secures the Republican nomination, he will go on to claim the White House. With conviction, he stated, “If you nominate me, you can set your clock to January 20, 2025, at high noon because on the west side of the US Capitol, I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States, no excuses. I will get the job done.”
While this statement could simply reflect his confidence in winning the general election, it also carries the potential for an allusion to the previous presidential contest. During that time, Donald Trump contested his loss and persistently pursued baseless claims of election fraud. By expressing his determination to “get the job done,” DeSantis might be implying a steadfast commitment to not back down, even if he does not secure the electoral college victory.
Musk was mainly focusing on Twitter spaces
The broadcast during the Presidential campaign announcement was undeniably unusual. The event saw a peculiar mix of topics, where questions about education for DeSantis were intermittently interrupted by Elon Musk discussing the Twitter outage in January. Notably, Republican congressmen like Thomas Massie and operatives like Chris Rufo joined the conversation, posing easy questions to DeSantis and expressing gratitude to Musk for his acquisition of Twitter.
Trump who?.
Hosting an event with celebrity CEO Musk and a prominent donor like Sacks has its own drawbacks, aside from the potential technical issues.
One such downside is the likelihood of encountering less challenging questions. One fundamental and significant inquiry that Republican primary voters might have is, “Why should I vote for DeSantis over Donald Trump?” Surprisingly, this question was not addressed during Thursday night’s event, although there was enough time for a dogecoin shoutout, which is a favorite topic of Musk. The name”Trump” only made an appearance in DeSantis’s stump speech, where he emphasized that “merit must trump identity politics. “
