Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
Alex Wong/Getty Images; John Tully for The Washington Post via Getty Images
You know what they say: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
DeSantis could have taken tips from his one-time mentor and gone down a golden escalator somewhere.
Instead, thousands of people listened and watched as the stream of his campaign announcement crashed and burned.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis learned something the hard way on Wednesday night: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
In an attempt to reinvent the wheel on how one should announce presidential campaigns, DeSantis and his team opted to join Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces for the big moment.
It’s unclear why DeSantis’ campaign opted to use Twitter Spaces as his platform of choice for what was, arguably, the biggest moment of his career yet. Maybe it was Musk’s 2 a.m. livestream? (Yep, the one where the Twitter owner tested a “new mic” and spammed listeners with fart noises while laughing hysterically.)
Whatever the reasoning, the stream crashed multiple times over 20 minutes. And when Musk’s team finally got the stream to work — at least for some Twitter users — DeSantis had to speed-read through his announcement.
“We must restore sanity to our nation,” DeSantis said after announcing his run, adding that “merit must trump identity politics.” (The pun was not missed.)
But say what you will about former President Donald Trump — at least he knew in 2015 that going down a golden escalator would be a more foolproof way of launching one’s campaign. (He might have hired actors to cheer for him on his descent, though, per The Washington Post.)
In November 2022, Trump opted for the safe “gilded Florida ballroom” option surrounded by the MAGA faithful. Boring — but at least he didn’t get cut off a dozen times on a social media livestream while announcing his presidential run.
And boy, did Trump smell blood in the water.
“DeSanctimonious raised much of his money during his run for Governor, which in theory cannot be used for his current ‘escapade,’ and before his poll numbers tanked – and wow(!) did they tank!” Trump posted on Truth Social, while Musk and DeSantis continued to try desperately to make it happen on Twitter Spaces.
And minutes after DeSantis announced his run, Trump dropped not one — but two videos attacking his former protégé.
“The Washington-established politicians like to talk about how they can be just like Donald Trump,” the voiceover on Trump’s second video said. “Why would we ever settle for Trump imposters when there’s only one — starting day one — who can make America great again?”
A Trump spokesperson had this to say to Insider when asked about DeSantis: “Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that’s just the candidate!”
And with that — welcome to the petty primary. Buckle up.