Elon Musk took a victory lap on Twitter Wednesday evening, hours after he hosted a Twitter Spaces chat with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who used the public forum to announce he would be running for the presidency.
The live call officially launching DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign featured more than 700,000 people but ran into scaling issues and began to experience technical glitches, sparking widespread criticism. Despite this, Musk suggested the call was a success.
After MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin drew attention to mainstream media outlets describing the call as a “fiasco,” “awkward,” and “horrendous,” Musk said he called it “massive attention.”
The Twitter owner added: “Top story on Earth today.”
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During the Twitter Spaces chat with Musk, DeSantis highlighted his accomplishments as governor in the state of Florida, which he has offered as a blueprint for how he would govern as president.
The meeting also came in tandem with an official video released by his campaign.
“Our border is a disaster. Crime infests our cities. The federal government makes it harder for families to make ends meet. And the president flounders,” DeSantis said in the video.
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This “decline is a choice. Success is attainable. And freedom is worth fighting for. Righting the ship requires restoring sanity to our society, normalcy to our communities, and integrity to our institutions. Truth must be our foundation — and common sense can no longer be an uncommon virtue. In Florida, we proved it can be done,” he added.
In the video, DeSantis said his administration in Florida “chose facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder.”
“We held the line when freedom hung in the balance,” he also said. “We showed that we can — and must — revitalize America. We need the courage to lead and the strength to win.”
DESANTIS CAMPAIGN RAISES $1M IN ONE HOUR AFTER WHITE HOUSE LAUNCH, SPOKESMAN SAYS
After the Twitter Spaces chat, the DeSantis campaign announced it raised more than $1 million within the first hour.
“$1 million raised online in one hour… and counting!” Bryan Griffin, the campaign press secretary, tweeted shortly after the event.
Griffin also recognized the event had some minor issues with users not being able to join the chat space: “There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet. Washington is next.”
DeSantis was expected to announce a bid for the presidency for months as he has been polling in the top tier of Republican contenders, just behind former President Donald Trump.
The Republican primary now includes DeSantis, Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder. The race also includes multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson.
DeSantis previously announced Griffin, who worked as DeSantis’ gubernatorial press secretary, will serve the same role for his presidential campaign.
Generra Peck, who helped lead his gubernatorial victory in 2022, is serving as his campaign manager, he previously revealed.
DeSantis’ campaign team also includes Dustin Carmack, who served as chief of staff for the director of national intelligence during the Trump administration; David Abrams, the former communications director for New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu; and, Florida pollster Ryan Tyson, a longtime member of DeSantis’ inner circle.
Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.
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