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Sorry, Not Sorry: The Ron DeSantis Twitter ‘Fiasco’ Proves He Can Win

The frequent bugs that disrupted DeSantis’ announcement are indicative of something far more interesting from the perspective of campaign watchers like me. The fact that the powerful Twitter servers kept crashing was because so many people were so interested—excited even—about the DeSantis announcement. 

Ron DeSantis. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Governor Ron DeSantis speaking with attendees at the 2021 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Gage Skidmore .

“DeSantis can’t even do a proper campaign launch!” That was how one Trump Campaign official exclaimed in an off-the-record conversation shortly after the unique way that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his presidential bid. 

Throughout the press, Trump Campaign surrogates and critics of DeSantis piled on the purportedly “botched” presidential announcement that was done exclusively on Twitter, along with the new owner of Twitter, the tech billionaire, Elon Musk, and tech investor, David Sacks. 

Bugging Out

One of the biggest complaints among those who tuned in via Twitter Spaces to listen to the Florida governor make his announcement was that the site crashed multiple times, cutting listeners off from key points of the governor’s address. Musk himself admitted that the Twitter servers had difficulty handling the increased demand from users to listen to the now-historic Twitter Spaces chat. 

The Trump Campaign’s take on the matter is bizarre—and one that eerily aligns with the criticisms of the mainstream media, a frequent target of the Trump Campaign. 

But the frequent bugs that disrupted DeSantis’ announcement are indicative of something far more interesting from the perspective of campaign watchers like me. The fact that the powerful Twitter servers kept crashing was because so many people were so interested—excited even—about the DeSantis announcement

This was precisely what happened a few years back when Elon Musk tuned into a rival social media app known as Clubhouse and hosted a similar talk with users on that platform (Twitter Spaces was created by Twitter in response to the growing popularity at the time of the audio social app Clubhouse). 

No one back then mocked Musk for not being popular enough. On the contrary, everyone knew that Musk was a big name to have and more powerful servers would be needed to host such events.

The content of DeSantis’ speech was somewhat jejune; stock political bromides that might have bored some people. DeSantis seemed far more comfortable talking about his many legislative accomplishments as Florida governor as well as his various conservative policy positions that make Republican stalwarts swoon. 

He seemed less comfortable, though, talking to the potential voters on Twitter Spaces – even though those asking questions of the Florida governor were vetted by his staff beforehand. 

Still, one must admire the gumption it took for DeSantis to make such a risky choice as announcing his presidential campaign exclusively on a social media app. With that one move, DeSantis proved himself to be a visionary—even if some of the content of the announcement fell flat. It shows that with DeSantis, we are not just getting possibly a younger, more disciplined version of Trump, but that we are getting an innovative leader who will take risks. Sometimes those risks might not turn out. But at least the man tries. 

It’s something the tired gerontocracy has yet to do – which is why the country is declining under their leadership. 

Ron DeSantis is a Pioneer (We Need That)

DeSantis understands technology and he gets the appeal of being new and original. This is why almost immediately after his Twitter Spaces announcement ended, Joe Biden’s campaign did a blitz of ads attacking Governor DeSantis. He’s the real threat to Biden. 

Whereas the Biden Campaign is clearly stoking Trump along in the hopes that he will again be the GOP’s nominee in 2024, the Democrats are frightened of Ron DeSantis and his growing appeal.

The Trump Campaign fundamentally understands this fact. That’s why their attacks on DeSantis have been so cutting and over-the-top. Trump himself took to his social media app, Truth Social, to issue a weird statement in which he tried to evoke one of his more famous tweets about his red button being bigger than his opponent’s. 

Something else that bothers Trump and his surrogates is that their new darling, Elon Musk, handed over his Twitter property to DeSantis—an implicit sign that Musk and billions of dollars – as well as his other fellow rich tech tycoons, like Peter Thiel – are clearly onboard with the Ron DeSantis Campaign. 

Trump, who cares only about wealth – how much he has relative to others and how he can ingratiate himself with those he deems to be wealthier, more popular, or more powerful – cannot fathom that Musk is behind DeSantis. Previously, Musk said that he does, in fact, support DeSantis’ bid for the presidency. 

DeSantis’ announcement was uneven. But that’s okay. There’s still plenty of time for the governor to tweak his candidacy. He’s working the kinks out now. What’s more, like Trump in 2016, who pioneered the art of the mean tweet to get his message across, or FDR with his fireside chats, Ron DeSantis is testing new forms of communication that will forever change the dynamics of American political campaigns. 

This is what winners do. Ron DeSantis only has room to grow whereas both Trump and Biden, two of the most unpopular men to run for the presidency, are staring down the barrel of diminishing returns as the campaign progresses. This is why Trump is enraged at DeSantis. He’s going to need to get used to that.

A 19FortyFive Senior Editor, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

Written By

Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who recently became a writer for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

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