Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisā (R) gamble to announce his 2024 presidential candidacy on Twitter encountered several hiccups ā and his rivals seized on the issues.
Politico noted the decision to announce his campaign on the social platform was supposed to āsignal a dynamic, non-traditional campaign while differentiating DeSantis from his competitors.ā
However, the event was delayed for roughly 20 minutes as there were audio and other technological issues. Eventually, the event got underway, but without about half of the audience size.
And it did not take long for the Florida governorās rivals to poke fun at the disaster.
President Joe Biden tweeted a link to donate to his own campaign with the caption, āThis link works.ā
In a separate tweet, Biden shared a video montage and wrote, āNo matter what happens, you can hear Ron Desantisā agenda loud and clear.ā
The video featured clips of DeSantis speaking about an abortion ban and cuts to Social Security.
It later displayed a text that asked, āCan you launch a presidential campaign?ā It then showed a video of DeSantis laughing, for which he was ridiculed on social media.
Former President Donald Trump also joined in the roasting of his newest primary opponent.
On Truth Social, he wrote, āāRob,ā My Red Button is bigger, better, stronger, and is working (TRUTH!), yours does not! (per my conversation with Kim Jung Un, of North Korea, soon to become my friend!).ā
He also shared a video of a rocket with the words āRon 2024!ā written over it falling over and exploding.
https://twitter.com/DeplorableHank1/status/1661552538812923905
Trump did not stop there. He shared a parody video mocking the issues with the event on Twitter Spaces, including figures such as the devil, Adolf Hitler, billionaire George Soros, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the FBI all in support of the governor.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1661590922524520448
Even Fox News took a jab at the technological issues and used the moment to promote its interview with the governor.
A banner on its website read, āPROGRAMMING ALERT: Want to actually see and hear Ron Desantis? Tune into Fox News at 8 p.m. ET.ā
For its part, DeSantisā team tried to sell the issues with Twitter as a positive. In a video posted later on Wednesday evening, the governor said his announcement ābroke the internet because so many people were excited about being on that Twitter Space.ā
His campaign said it raised $1 million in the first hour after its launch.
