DeSantis raised $8.2M in 24 hours after 2024 launch: campaign

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hauled in $8.2 million in the first 24 hours of his 2024 presidential campaign despite a lackluster launch on Twitter. 

The impressive sum dwarfs the $6.3 million raised by Joe Biden in his first 24 hours as a presidential candidate back in 2019. 

The donations started to roll in despite audio and server issues during DeSantis’ much-anticipated presidential launch on Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk.

The issues delayed DeSantis’ long-anticipated announcement by about 30 minutes. 

But after the hour-long conversation between DeSantis, Musk, and entrepreneur David Sacks, the Florida governor urged supporters to flood his campaign with contributions. 

“I’m running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback. We announced that on Twitter Spaces earlier tonight and it broke the internet, because so many people were excited about being on that Twitter Space. Now let’s see if we can break WinRed,” DeSantis said in a video message, referencing the Republican Party fundraising platform. 

Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the DeSantis presidential campaign, declared on Wednesday that $1 million was raised online within an hour of the announcement. 

“There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet. Washington is next,” Griffin wrote in a tweet. 

DeSantis’ fresh $8.2 million bankroll includes both online contributions and donations secured by volunteers at the Four Seasons in Miami on Wednesday, who gathered in the hotel’s ballroom to make calls soliciting donations.

The Trump-supporting super PAC Make America Great Again Inc., responded to reports of DeSantis’ first-day haul dismissively. 

“After a three month shadow campaign, including a legislative session that clearly leveraged Florida taxpayer money to elevate his fundraising efforts, DeSantis was still not able to raise enough money to make up for his botched campaign launch. His record of targeting senior benefits, wanting to raise taxes, and withholding funding for the border wall makes this campaign dead on arrival. No amount of money will change that,” Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for Make America Great Again Inc., wrote in a statement.