The Florida governor's campaign raised $8.2 million on his first day as a GOP primary candidate. This was reported last Thursday by DeSantis' team, as reported by several media outlets.
🇺🇸 Ron DeSantis just made HISTORY by raising $8.2 million in 24 hours.
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Make Joe Biden a one-term president by donating $25 right now at this link below. ⬇️
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— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) May 26, 2023
DeSantis' team celebrated the figure by linking it to the audience of more than 700,000 users who watched the unusual launch of the campaign on Twitter Spaces. The high number of attendees caused the servers to collapse and the connection was interrupted for half an hour. "In the last 24 hours DeSantis broke Twitter [and] broke a fundraising record for a non-incumbent presidential candidate," Team DeSantis tweeted. "What do you want him to break next?"
🚨 In the last 24 hours, @RonDeSantis:
❌ Broke Twitter
❌ Broke a fundraising record for a non-incumbent presidential candidateWhat do you want him to break next? Text your answer NOW to 512345 🇺🇸👀
— Team DeSantis (@TeamDeSantis) May 26, 2023
The collection includes both online contributions and those secured by members of its funding team, according to the New York Times. The latter gathered donations Thursday at the Four Seasons in Miami for a fundraiser called "Ron-O-Rama," as reported by Buisiness Insider.
With this amount, DeSantis is likely to far surpass the $9.5 million raised by Donald Trump in his first six weeks as a candidate. This would be another argument for the governor to position himself as a leading contender in a race led by former-President Trump, and perhaps even beat him.
Beyond the primaries
DeSantis is looking beyond Donald Trump. Some of the money raised will be set aside for the general election, the governor's staff told the NYT, although they did not say how much.
The more than $8 million received by the Floridian also surpasses the $6.3 million obtained in the first 24 hours of Joe Biden's candidacy in the elections that resulted with him as president.
First days of campaigning
This Thursday, the governor announced plans for his first tour as a candidate, according to the AP. In total, it will make at least 12 stops in three states.
The tour will begin Tuesday in Iowa, and he will also stay there through Wednesday. On Thursday, he will travel to New Hampshire. The tour will end on Friday in South Carolina.
