

But on Wednesday, DeSantis - who fiercely values control - was the picture of disorder.” The governor has been portraying himself in public speeches and private donor meetings as a controlled, low-drama politician who embraces many of Trump’s policy positions without the trademark unpredictability. POLITICO : “The risk for DeSantis is the prospect of the botched rollout forming a narrative and cutting against the very argument he is making to Republican primary voters - that he is a competent alternative to the chaotic presidency of former President Donald Trump. Instead, a different narrative is taking hold … It was a moment to project strength and competence and give his donors and supporters a reason to get excited again. It was supposed to be a tabula-rasa moment - a chance to reset the narrative around his campaign, which has seen its poll numbers drop and Trump’s lead widen. Let’s be clear: This was a bad night for DeSantis. And if his popularity is so vast, it seems odd that after the Twitter Spaces restarted, half of the audience from the first attempt never returned.

That’s not true, of course: The internet was just fine the launch is what had problems. Team DeSantis immediately tried to spin it as evidence that the governor’s immense popularity “broke the internet,” to paraphrase one campaign release.
#Reporter kills herself on air video crack
"Even Fox News couldn't resist making a crack in promoting the network’s own interview with the candidate.
#Reporter kills herself on air video full
We’ll spare you a full readout of the ensuing interview, which lasted more than an hour, and mostly featured the Florida governor reciting well-rehearsed talking points.Įveryone from JOE BIDEN to NIKKI HALEY to ASA HUTCHINSON to DONALD TRUMP reveled in DeSantis’ misfortune. Then the original Twitter Spaces event was aborted and a new one began - with roughly half the listenership of the first. (Twitter’s teams “did no advance prep” for the launch, according to NYT tech reporter Ryan Mac.) At one point, a disembodied voice was heard making a grim assessment, per NBC’s David Ingram and Matt Dixon: “This is going to be a stain that Trump is going to leverage for at least a few weeks.” Instead, for 20 minutes or so, there were false starts, dropped audio, strange hold music and not a peep from DeSantis. Competence without the chaos.Ĭhoosing to use Twitter Spaces to announce his candidacy was supposed to signal a dynamic, non-traditional campaign while differentiating DeSantis from his competitors. RON DeSANTIS has teased a run for president as a candidate squarely in the “Trump but without the drama” lane. debt default could hit Social Security payments first,” by WaPo’s Abha Bhattarai:įAILURE TO LAUNCH - It started not with a bang, but with a whimper.įor months, Florida Gov. | Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo DRIVING THE DAYĭEFAULT IN OUR STARS - “Inside Wall Street’s Playbook to Prevent Debt-Ceiling Chaos,” by WSJ’s Sam Goldfarb … “Fitch Places United States’ ‘AAA’ on Rating Watch Negative,” Fitch Ratings … “U.S. Everyone from Joe Biden to Nikki Haley to Asa Hutchinson to Donald Trump reveled in DeSantis’ misfortune after last night's failed Twitter Spaces announcement.
