Start of Ron DeSantis presidential campaign melts down in Twitter problems

A much-anticipated Twitter event in which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis planned to announce his 2024 Republican presidential bid was repeatedly disrupted Wednesday when Twitter’s servers apparently could not handle the surge in traffic.

Some Twitter users reported that the app crashed as they tried to listen to the event where Twitter owner Elon Musk joined DeSantis for the announcement.

At times, DeSantis’ account appeared absent from the audio-only event on the feature known as Twitter Spaces. Metrics published by Twitter said that more than 600,000 were attempting to listen.

“We’re reallocating some of the server capability to be able to handle the load here. It’s really going crazy,” Musk said at one point.

It was not immediately clear whether DeSantis was able to speak during the event and if so for how long.

DeSantis also released a launch video Wednesday evening, saying he was ready to lead a “Great American Comeback.”

“Our border is a disaster. Crime infests our cities. The federal government makes it harder for families to make ends meet. And the president flounders,” DeSantis said in the spot.