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MIAMI, Fla. \u2014 Plagued by technical issues, many are describing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ virtual campaign announcement via Twitter Spaces as a “non-launch.”<\/p>\n
But the Republican presidential hopeful still has opportunities to right the ship.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes of technical problems delayed the expected announcement of the candidacy of the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, for the Presidency.<\/p>\n
“The servers are straining a bit,” Twitter CEO Elon Musk said about five minutes after the first transmission attempt.<\/p>\n
After the announcement concluded, the DeSantis campaign tried to steer the narrative around the mistakes.<\/p>\n
“It broke the internet because so many people were excited about being in that Twitter space,” DeSantis said in a video posted to Twitter Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
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But the characterization of the stumble was almost unanimous among media sources, including conservative media who called it a ‘disaster’<\/a><\/p>\n DeSantis’ main primary opponent, former President Donald Trump, simply posted a video of a failed rocket launch with the tagline ‘Ron! 2024\u2032.<\/p>\n “A few hundred thousand people and it’s not working, that’s not really breaking the Internet. This is really like Twitter breaking,” said UCF political science professor Dr. Aubrey Jewett.<\/p>\n Jewett argued that the issues with the launch diverted attention from DeSantis’ own candidacy.<\/p>\n Read: DeSantis’ presidential pitch draws hundreds of thousands of listeners, hits technical snags<\/p>\n He said that even when it launched, it reached fewer eyeballs or ears than a traditional release would.<\/p>\n “And so they cost themselves a lot of potentially free publicity,” Jewett said.<\/p>\n DeSantis is expected to meet with donors and supporters at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami in the coming days.<\/p>\n The main goal: to get as much cash as possible to help get the campaign off the ground.<\/p>\n Read: Ron DeSantis officially joins the presidential race<\/p>\n In that regard at least, the campaign appears to have a lot to brag about, with more than $1 million raised within an hour of the governor declaring his candidacy.<\/p>\n And Jewett said the governor still has plenty of opportunities to catch up.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they raise money, if they hire people on the ground, they knock on doors, they start putting out a lot of campaign ads, they make a lot of speeches in the different states that have early primaries, they’re sure to come back. in the game,\u201d Jewett said.<\/p>\n His first chance to recover will be a scheduled “campaign kickoff” in Des Moines, Iowa, next week.<\/p>\n Read: Putnam County deputies search for missing East Palatka boy<\/p>\n