CONC. NH –
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to put his ignominious start to his presidential campaign behind him on Thursday, as his allies on the campaign trail said they would remain well-funded and well-positioned for a long-running Republican primary.
Although DeSanti’s supporters have privately acknowledged that his failure is necessary to distract, even among some Republican critics there is a widespread sense that his long-term political failure will be limited for the better. Incredibly, the campaign confirmed Thursday night that it had raised $8.2 million in the first 24 hours of entering the race, a staggering figure that far exceeds the amount President Joe Biden raised in the same race.
“Do you want to do it again? Probably,” said David Oman, a businessman based in Iowa, referring to his spate of technical glitches. “Will you still be talking about it in 10 days? Probably not.”
DeSantis formally announced his campaign Wednesday night during an online chat with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. But the audio stream had repeated glitches that made it difficult for most users to listen to the announcement in real time.
On Thursday, the Republican president announced plans for a three-state tour next week with at least 12 stops. The expedition meets at Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday.
