Some of DeSantis’ rivals for the GOP nomination gleefully watched as DeSantis’ Twitter Spaces announcement was mired with technical difficulties.
Trump took to his Truth Social media platform writing, “Wow. The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!” And Trump’s team also watched with excitement, sharing images of a glass of wine and a laughing-to-tears emoji, NBC News’ Jonathan Allen reports.
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s campaign sent out a press release with the subject line, “There’s Twitter … and There’s New Hampshire,” rounding up her travels in the early primary state. Haley’s spokesman Ken Farnaso tweeted footage of her February launch, writing, “We’re so proud of @TeamHaley and our incredible campaign launch.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson poked fun at the technical glitches by tweeting a link to his campaign fundraising page and writing, “Just like my policies, this link works.” (President Joe Biden’s campaign had the same idea.)
And Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy tweeted that he would also join a Twitter Space hosted by CEO Elon Musk “anytime & no script required.”
The early trolling underscores how DeSantis is becoming a main target for other GOP presidential candidates who are hesitant to directly attack Trump. NBC News’ Allen, Natasha Korecki and Olympia Sonnier write that DeSantis is set to face attacks both from those rivals and from Trump himself.
It’s not yet clear if or how the botched launch could affect DeSantis’ standing in the race or his early fundraising. DeSantis’ campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin did tweet that the campaign raised $1 million online in the first hour after DeSantis announced he was running.
In other campaign news…
One thing just became easier for DeSantis: The Florida governor signed a bill Wednesday to clarify that those running for president and vice president aren’t subject to the state’s resign-to-run law.
A busy day for Haley: Former UN Ambassador and presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said Tuesday in New Hampshire that she’d back a federal abortion ban as president if it could get through Congress; talked to USA Today about how she can connect with suburban women voters that may struggle to support Trump; booked a CNN town hall; and criticized a transgender influencer as “a guy dressed up like a girl, mocking women.”
Blowing the whistle: CBS News spoke to the IRS employee who is seeking whistleblower status about the probe into Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Meanwhile, the White House says Republicans are playing politics with their different probe, pointing to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s comments to the media.
Ridin’ with Biden: CNBC reports on Biden building out his joint fundraising committee to raise funds from every state Democratic Party committee.
No timeline: NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin and Liz Brown-Kaiser interviewed Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in Tucson, where she called immigration her top priority and wouldn’t lay out a timeline for deciding if she’ll run for re-election. Meanwhile, “Replace Sinema,” the group that’s pushing for Sinema to be replaced by a Democrat, announced it’s backing Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego’s Senate bid.
She doesn’t give a Schiff: Politico reports on how Democratic Rep. Katie Porter is telling activists that she can handle the deep war chest of one of her top rivals in California’s Senate race, fellow Rep. Adam Schiff.
Competition arrives: Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh is running for Senate as a Democrat, The Detroit News reports, in a primary where Rep. Elissa Slotkin is seen as the frontrunner.
Thinking about it: Bloomberg Government reports on how Pennsylvania Republican Dave McCormick is weighing another run for Senate with the likelihood that he would have to face state Sen. Doug Mastriano in another high-stakes primary.
He will. Will he? Republican Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs announced that he’s running for Senate, as Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, still remains coy on his plans.
