And while DeSantis’ rivals and what he calls the “legacy media” will fixate over the problems at his campaign launch, the real test of the coming months is whether he can land a compelling anti-Trump attack. He is trying to do something that no one in the Republican Party has managed to do since the ex-president came down his golden escalator in 2015 – beat him. Trump has denied wrongdoing in all cases, but he also has a long catalog of wild and outrageous behavior that even some of his Republican supporters consider beyond the pale.īut DeSantis already had a mountain to climb before he made his bid official in farcical fashion on Wednesday. It’s worth remembering that Trump, for instance, carries far more baggage than a lackluster campaign launch, given his two impeachments, an indictment in a hush money case in which he has pleaded not guilty, the $5 million judgment after he was found liable for sexual assault and defamation, and several other ongoing investigations related to his conduct after the 2020 election and handling of classified documents. Yet in the end, if the Florida governor can shake off the embarrassment of Wednesday evening, his bid to win the GOP nomination will not be decided by the malfunctioning Twitter Spaces audio stream. Tim Scott – that he’s on an irreversible downward trajectory.ĭeSantis has bigger problems than a failing audio stream DeSantis’ flailing start may now offer some hope to candidates polling in single digits – like former South Carolina Gov. He is now under immediate pressure to change the narrative lest the chaotic events on Wednesday become a metaphor for his campaign.Įven before it became official, his shadow campaign had appeared to deflate in recent weeks following Trump’s rebound, some odd moments on a DeSantis foreign tour, and his failure to deter other rivals from jumping into what is now a crowded primary field. The DeSantis-Musk alliance was a year in the makingīut by handing a rival as ruthless as Trump an early gift, which will no doubt be retold in increasingly withering and humiliating versions by the great showman in his coming campaign rallies, DeSantis is guilty of a major error – one that is especially surprising since his aides had months to choreograph his first official move on the national stage. Anna Moneymaker/Ludovic Marin/Getty Images The stakes are too high and the fight to save America is too critical to gamble on a first-timer who is clearly not ready for prime time,” said Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again PAC.Įven President Joe Biden’s campaign got in on the act, tweeting out a link to his fundraising machine, which, it quipped, worked – unlike the DeSantis audio stream.ĭeSantis made an attempt to spin away the fiasco by releasing a video boasting that he “broke the internet” because so many people were excited to tune into hear him on Twitter Spaces. “Ron DeSantis’ botched campaign announcement is another example of why he is just not ready for the job. The former president’s allies – who mounted savage weeks of attacks on the former Trump protégé, whom he clearly believes is his biggest primary threat – could barely contain glee at the fiasco that overtook DeSantis’ big moment. Ron DeSantis launches 2024 presidential bid on Twitter with Elon Musk Scott McIntyre/The New York Times/Reduxįlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis at his election night party in Tampa, Florida, in November 2022. And even when the event got up and running, it felt more like a fan fest for Musk, as various conservative opinion leaders called in to boost DeSantis but seemed more effusive about his host.įlorida Gov. The cliche that the best day of any presidential candidate’s campaign is when they first announce will not apply to DeSantis, who managed to obliterate his own message. Worse, the launch interview was delayed and plagued by glitches. The Florida governor has been preparing for months to run for president, but his official campaign launch committed a cardinal political sin – offering his opponents, especially ex-President Donald Trump, an opening to turn him into an object of ridicule.įirst, DeSantis made the unorthodox choice to make his long-awaited run official not among regular voters, but on a Twitter Spaces audio stream alongside Musk, the billionaire owner of the social media platform, which meant the biggest moment in his political career played out through a disembodied voice. Ron DeSantis’ campaign launch fizzled like one of Elon Musk’s early rocket prototypes.
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