Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential announcement on Twitter plagued by technical problems

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign got off to a rocky start Wednesday when his announcement event on Twitter was plagued by technical difficulties, which persisted for more than 20 minutes before the governor was able to deliver his speech and participate in a question-and-answer session.

DeSantis filed his presidential paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday afternoon, making him an official candidate. The 6 p.m. Twitter event with company CEO Elon Musk and moderator David Sacks was DeSantis' first opportunity to publicly tout his campaign, and it did not start well.

Sacks attributed the problems to strong interest in the event, saying "we’ve got so many people here that we are kind of melting the servers, which is a good sign."

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Whatever the cause, the technical glitches marred what was supposed to be a triumphant moment for DeSantis as he debuted as a national candidate after years of buzz about his presidential potential.

The malfunctions also undercut one of DeSantis' central campaign themes, that he is a more disciplined and competent leader than former President Donald Trump.

When DeSantis finally did get going, he plowed forward with a speech touching on a range of issues, including policing the border, maintaining "law and order" and freeing the military of "distractions" such as "gender ideology and pronouns." He also highlighted some of these issues in an announcement video.

DeSantis talked up his record as governor, saying "our results in Florida have been second to none." He criticized President Joe Biden, arguing he has "allowed woke ideology to drive his agenda" and pledging to reverse his policies.

"You can't do any of that if you don't win; there is no substitute for victory. We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years," DeSantis said.

He added, "Voters who are participating in this primary process, my pledge to you is this: If you nominate me you can set your clock to Jan. 20, 2025 at high noon because on the west side of the U.S. Capitol I will be taking the oath of office as the 47th president of the United States. No excuses, I will get the job done."

The comments speak to Republican voters' frustration after poor performances in recent elections, and are an implicit criticism of Trump's influence on the GOP during that period.

After his speech, DeSantis participated in a question-and-answer session with Musk, Sacks and others supportive of his campaign that touched on his COVID-19 record, education policies, immigration and other issues.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, appointed by DeSantis to the New College of Florida board to carry out a controversial makeover of the liberal arts school, was among the questioners. He asked DeSantis how he would institute policies touching on race and gender issues at the federal level, noting "D.C. is another animal, it's quite different, the scale."

DeSantis argued he has public opinion on his side when it comes to issues such as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education.

"I just know instinctively kind of what, like, normal people think about all this stuff and I have a good sense of when the legacy media and the left are outside of where the average American is because people want you to be using common sense," DeSantis said.

There were 301,000 people listening to the announcement event when it ended.

Kicking off a presidential campaign on Twitter is an unconventional approach that drew criticism before the event, and the technical problems only will add to the perception that DeSantis miscalculated.

The event was supposed to start at 6 p.m. but didn't kickoff on time and then immediately cut out. It then started and cut out again multiple times.

"We're just trying to get it going, there's so many people," somebody said.

Trump was quick to pounce.

"WOW! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER!" Trump said on social media. "His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!"

Trump also shared a video of a rocket with DeSantis' name on it exploding on the launch pad.

The Democratic National Committee described DeSantis' campaign launch as an "absolute faceplant."

“In true Ron DeSantis fashion, his presidential launch was quite literally not ready for primetime," said DNC spokesperson Ammar Moussa. "Welcome to the race for the MAGA base, Ron!”

After DeSantis finished his speech, Sacks thanked him for "putting up with these technical difficulties" and asked why he wanted to do the announcement this way.

DeSantis said during COVID-19 he "went against the grain" and received criticism. Arguing for the importance of open debate, DeSantis praised Musk's leadership at Twitter.

The announcement event ended with Musk defending how it played out.

“It’s going to be imperfect because it’s not scripted but it’s genuine," he said.

DeSantis' campaign later put out a video where the governor said his announcement "broke the Internet because so many people were excited about being on that Twitter Space."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DeSantis' presidential announcement silenced by technical problems