| Ron DeSantis’s big moment goes awry |
| Ron DeSantis’s long-awaited official entry into the 2024 presidential campaign went haywire at its start last night during a glitch-filled livestream over Twitter that was marred by technical problems and dead air. The audio cut in and out amid talk of “melting the servers,” hot mic whispering and on-the-spot troubleshooting. |
| Despite the problems, DeSantis, the combative 44-year-old Republican governor of Florida who has championed conservative causes and thrown a yearslong flurry of punches at America’s left, provides Donald Trump the most formidable Republican rival he has faced since his ascent in 2016. |
| His candidacy comes at a pivotal moment for the Republican Party, which must choose between aligning once more behind Mr. Trump — who lost in 2020 and continues to rage falsely about a stolen election — or uniting around a new challenger to take on President Biden. |
| Response: The extended social media hiccup — as more than 500,000 people were waiting — was gleefully cheered on the platform itself. Donald Trump Jr. wrote a single word: “#DeSaster.” President Biden posted a donation button to his re-election campaign with the words, “This link works.” |
| Analysis: “DeSantis has long been seen as the candidate for Republicans who want Trumpism without the chaos,” said Trip Gabriel, who covers politics for The Times. “Although DeSantis is Trump’s closest rival — really, the only serious one for now — he has fallen about 30 points behind Trump in polls of Republicans since the start of the year.” |
