“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign announcement plans were derailed Wednesday evening by massive technical glitches on Twitter that kept him from declaring his candidacy,” CNBC reported on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 (read story here).
“’Servers are straining somewhat,’ Elon Musk, Twitter’s owner, was heard saying on the app’s live audio stream where he and DeSantis were supposed to have a conversation that included the governor’s first verbal announcement of his White House bid,” CNBC added.
The program was delayed for 25 minutes by “crashes, feedback glitches and audio failures.”
DeSantis, a former congressman, made a political name for himself as governor by defying Covid restrictions. His policies cost Floridians a death rate twice Washington’s. He’s also gotten attention with stunts like busing migrants from Texas to Martha’s vineyard, at a cost of $30,000 per migrant, paid for that with federal Covid relief funds.
DeSantis has moved to scrub diversity programs from Florida’s public schools and colleges, and muzzle classroom discussions about race and slavery. He supports book bans, and is trying to force LGBQT people back into the closet. He attacked Disney, Florida’s largest employer, for criticizing his “Don’t Say Gay” law, and has sought to ban ESG investing. Meanwhile, while he’s waging “culture wars” against “woke” (whatever that is), Florida has a massive teacher shortage, and a homeowners insurance crisis.
DeSantis shouldn’t be president, and probably won’t be, at least not this time. He lags far behind Trump in GOP preference polls, and political observers believe even if he wins the GOP nomination, his abrasive personality would be a severe handicap in the general election.
Perhaps his rocky campaign launch is an omen.