DeSantis pushes past embarrassing campaign start, outlines travel plan

CONCORD: Florida Gov Ron DeSantis sought to push past an embarrassing beginning to his presidential campaign, outlining an aggressive travel schedule as his allies insisted they remain well funded and well positioned for a long Republican primary fight ahead.

While DeSantis supporters privately acknowledged the bungled announcement was an unwelcome distraction, there was a broad sense — even among some Republican critics — that it would likely have limited longterm political consequences, if any at all.

“Do they wish they could do it over again? Probably,” said David Oman, who managed two top-tier presidential campaigns in Iowa.

“Will we be talking about it in 10 days? Probably not.” DeSantis launched his campaign Wednesday night during an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. But the audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time. The Republican governor announced plans for a three-state blitz next week featuring at least a dozen stops. He’s scheduled to campaign in Iowa before a trip to New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday.

“We are laser-focused on taking Gov. DeSantis’ forward-thinking message for restoring America to every potential voter in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” campaign manager Generra Peck said.

“Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states. No one will work harder than Gov. DeSantis to share his vision with the country — he has only begun to fight.”