Washington: Florida governor Ron DeSantis has officially entered the 2024 presidential race, but his formal campaign announcement has been stymied by an embarrassing technical blunder on Twitter.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential run this week on Twitter with Elon Musk.Credit: AP
After months of speculation, DeSantis filed federal election paperwork on Wednesday to formalise his candidacy for the Republican nomination and was meant to use a Twitter Spaces session with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to announce his campaign, paving the way for a bitter showdown with former president Donald Trump.
But the high-risk move went disastrously wrong from the get-go, when the platform kept crashing and booting out users before the Republican could even say a word.
At one point music could be heard playing, before Musk was heard muttering: “we’ve just a massive number of people online so the service is straining somewhat.”
Twenty-five minutes later, the session resumed and DeSantis was finally able to make his pitch as the person to beat Joe Biden, framing himself as the future of the Republican Party while suggesting Trump carries too much baggage to win another election.
“We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years,” he said. “The tired dogmas of the past are inadequate for a vibrant future. We must look forward, not backwards. We need the courage to lead, and we must have the strength to win.”
More to come
