Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' widely hyped presidential campaign launch on Twitter quickly turned into a punchline after the platform repeatedly crashed and the event went off the rails.
DeSantis was set to announce his campaign in an audio-only Twitter Space discussion with Twitter owner Elon Musk that was moderated by tech investor David Sacks. The Twitter Space was shut down after about 20 minutes of technical failures and relaunched shortly after.
Sacks tried to spin the platform's inability to broadcast to several hundred thousand people, claiming that "so many people here that I think we are kind of melting the servers."
Folks: We can now all relive Ron DeSantis' humiliating failure to launch! Watch as DeSantis, Elon Musk, and David Sacks struggle to get Twitter Spaces to work in their initial 20+ minute attempt. pic.twitter.com/MyiX1yVKyb
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) May 24, 2023
DeSantis finally announced his presidential bid after the event was relaunched with a smaller audience of around 200,000 users, railing about the border and "woke" culture.
DeSantis, Musk and Sacks later discussed COVID, federal spending and modern media, listing a litany of right-wing complaints.
But by the time DeSantis was finally able to speak, the damage had been done and his nascent presidential bid quickly drew a flood of mockery.
Fox News' website quickly labeled the launch a "disaster."
Fox homepage. pic.twitter.com/yMw2TnJzCn
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) May 24, 2023
DeSantis spoke with Fox News host Trey Gowdy, the former Republican congressman, following the botched Twitter event.
"I can't promise you that I won't crash, but Fox News will not crash during this interview," Gowdy told DeSantis.
DeSantis blamed the failure on the "huge audience."
"It was the biggest they had ever had," he said. "It did break the Twitter Space, and so we are really excited with the enthusiasm, but ultimately it's about the future of our country."
This is how Fox News Tonight with Trey Gowdy opened - a gushing segment about Gov. Ron DeSantis and then a direct diss of Twitter. "Fox News will not crash." pic.twitter.com/FeVXNvE3KM
— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) May 25, 2023
Former President Donald Trump, who holds a large lead over DeSantis in virtually all Republican primary polls, mocked his opponent's entry into the race on Truth Social.
"'Rob,' 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!)," he wrote.
Trump now dunking on Twitter and Ron DeSantis, calling him "Rob" and bringing up Kim Jong Un for some reason. pic.twitter.com/AfaWuKW0H3
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) May 24, 2023
"Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!" he continued.
Trump also posted a bizarre fake video depicting DeSantis holding a Twitter Space with Adolf Hitler, The Devil, former Vice President Dick Cheney, liberal donor George Soros and other perceived MAGA enemies.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1661590922524520448
"DeSantis is making JEB! look high energy right now," tweeted Donald Trump Jr.
"Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that's just the candidate!" a Trump spokesperson texted reporters after the event.
Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon called the event a "clown show" on his podcast.
"This is a historic screw-up," he said.
Bannon during Desantis event: “This is a clown show. I got Elon mumbling - he’s on the spectrum. We got him mumbling. We got Desantis - who knows where Desantis is. I got David Sacks trying to tell me how historic this is. This is a historic screw-up.” pic.twitter.com/4PDn3JfjHh
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 25, 2023
DeSantis drew mockery from all sides after the Twitter failure as "#DeSaster" trended on the platform.
"This link works," tweeted President Joe Biden, sharing a fundraising page for his campaign.
This link works: https://t.co/9PzIJkseYI
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 24, 2023
MSNBC host mocked DeSantis' team for their pitch that the Republican is "Trump but competent."
Congratulations to DeSantis's crack comms team, @BryanDGriffin, @ChristinaPushaw, and @JeremyRedfernFL, for organizing a totally effective and non-humiliating campaign launch for their boss with tech genius @elonmusk. Bravo!
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 24, 2023
Remember, their pitch is 'Trump but competent.' Lol.
"I'm sorry but this is an ASTOUNDINGLY HUMILIATING degree of incompetence. Unspinnable failure. Total and complete. Fully public," wrote fellow MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
"The guys who can't run a conference call should definitely run the country," quipped New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi.
"It was bold. It turned out to be a mistake," right-wing radio host Erick Erickson said in an email to supporters.
"'Failure to Launch': The Ron DeSantis story," joked former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum.
"As presidential announcements go, this is the three stoned guys who couldn't get a date in their dorm room on Saturday night version," tweeted Stuart Stevens, a Never Trump former Republican strategist.
Musk, whose team reportedly made no preparations ahead of the event, defended the disastrous Twitter Space by refuting media outlets who branded it a "fiasco," a "meltdown," and "horrendous."
"I call it 'massive attention,'" he wrote. "Top story on Earth today."
I call it “massive attention”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2023
Top story on Earth today
