Elon Musk suffered another embarrassing blunder in the wake of the disastrous launch of Ron Desantis’ Twitter Spaces campaign, as his own platform quickly corrected his attempt to boast about the Florida governor’s “record” fundraising.
The billionaire tried to hit back at the “noise” that followed the fiasco, which saw DeSantis’ widely anticipated announcement interrupted by numerous technical problems.
‘But what is not noise? Setting an all-time record for fundraising!’ Musk tweeted, citing the 2024 hopeful’s $8.2 million haul in the first 24 hours of his candidacy.
The tweet, which was viewed more than 21 million times, was quickly corrected by a community note, which pointed to the actual record set by Donald Trump at $25 million the day after he announced his failed 2019 re-election bid.
Elon Musk Responded To ‘Noise’ Surrounding His Failed Hosting Of Ron DeSantis’ Presidential Campaign Launch
The billionaire owner of Twitter attempted to boast of DeSantis’ ‘record’ fundraising numbers, a claim that was later corrected by a community note.
The humiliating note from the community further stated that half of DeSantis’s donations came from a fundraising event that began before his failed Spaces ad.
Community Notes is a feature on Twitter that attempts to provide additional context to posts and correct misinformation.
Twitter says it has no control over the writing, rating or moderation of the notes, and corrections appear when other users rate them as helpful.
DeSantis has been widely mocked for his unorthodox decision to announce his White House candidacy on Twitter Spaces in favor of a traditional rally.
However, a decimated staff and reduced server capacity were blamed for the debacle after large numbers of people flooded the platform to tune in.
Twitter Spaces’ staff has been reduced from 100 workers to just three in recent months, with the company’s engineers admitting they were “unprepared” for the onslaught of users.
More than 500,000 people waited more than 20 minutes for the event to start, and people who were able to join were frequently thrown out.
The first live audio feed was cut off before DeSantis could make his news. The second fared slightly better, drawing approximately 700,000 listeners at its peak.
DeSantis is seen as Trump’s main competitor. Pictured: Trump shakes hands with DeSantis as Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis looks on during a rally in Estero, Florida on October 31, 2018.
A hot mic discussion between Musk and Spaces moderator David Sacks was also picked up during the event, where they said the issues were due to “server stress” and that users were “melting down the servers.”
The duo claimed it was the biggest event ever hosted online, another claim that was called into question as many pointed out that the biggest events had gone off without a hitch.
Notably, the governor of Florida was unable to speak for the first half hour of its launch due to numerous technical problems.
When he was finally able to get started, he was overheard in lighthearted conversation with Musk touting his record of dealing with COVID and veiled jabs at Donald Trump.
He also promised to reverse “everything” that President Biden had done with the southern border of the United States.
“I am running for President of the United States to lead our great American comeback,” DeSantis said. ‘But we know our country is headed in the wrong direction. We see it with our own eyes. And we feel it in our bones.
DeSantis would later claim that his ad “broke the internet” as he tried to ignore the chaotic start.
Although the delivery was a joke and seemed to downplay the wild announcement, DeSantis didn’t crack a smile, though he did manage a brief grimace as he finished his speech.
DeSantis poses with his family, Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis and their three children, Madison, 5, Mason, 4, and Mamie, 2.
Foad Dabiri resigns as Twitter’s chief engineer after disastrous launch
The humiliation of DeSantis’s campaign ad was made worse when Twitter’s chief engineer, Foad Dabiri, announced his resignation after the event.
He tweeted: ‘After almost four amazing years on Twitter, yesterday I decided to leave the nest.
“The combination of the fantastic community, the impact it has, and its limitless potential sets Twitter apart.”
He admitted that Musk’s purchase of Twitter in October had made the job “challenging,” with a lot of “external noise,” but put a positive spin on the situation, saying he had learned a lot from the experience.
Manish Dutt Mishra is an accomplished journalist and the Executive Editor at Elite News, a position he has held since 2021. With a wealth of experience in the media industry, Manish brings a unique perspective and a strong editorial vision to his role.