DeSantis officially announces his 2024 bid for US president.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially entered the 2024 US presidential race on Wednesday, filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.

The move was preceded by an announcement through Twitter Spaces by the CEO of the social network, Elon Musk.

But the statement initially ran into technical issues as the social media platform struggled to maintain volume, before crashing several times.

Musk said the issues were due to “unable” servers as many people tried to log into the event.

Since taking over Twitter in October, Musk has cut thousands of employees, from engineers to product managers. Some 70% of the workforce would be laid off.

End the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party, says DeSantis

Finally, with a live chat on Twitter, DeSantis said, “I’m running for President of the United States to lead our great American comeback.” He said it was important to “look forward, not back”.

“There is no substitute for winning. We need to end the culture of failure that has infected the Republican Party for the past few years,” DeSantis said. “The tired teachings of the past are not enough for a bright future,” he added.

Subtly investigating the Twitter crash during DeSantis’ presidential announcement, US President Joe Biden sent out a tweet for his campaign fundraiser saying, “This link is working.”

DeSantis on immigration, taking over as FBI director if he becomes president

DeSantis addressed several topics on Twitter during the hour he spoke, including immigration.

“We’re going to act on day one by declaring a national emergency. We’re going to build a border wall,” DeSantis said. He added that the crackdown on “Mexican drug cartels” was important because they facilitated mass immigration.

He talked about bitcoin and said people have “every right to do bitcoin. The only reason these people in Washington don’t like it is because they don’t control it”.

Shortly after announcing his candidacy, DeSantis spoke to Fox News, telling them that he would not appoint Christopher Wray as FBI director if he were to become president. Wray was appointed by President Donald Trump to this post in 2017.

DeSantis focused heavily on his record as Florida Governor during the Twitter Space event, as he has for the past few months. But he has been criticized for failing to convey a national vision to all Americans.

He will face off against former President Donald Trump and other members of the GOP in hopes of becoming the Republican Party’s nominee for the White House next year.