Twitter is committed to Spaces despite the failed DeSantis event

Sacks, a general partner at venture capital firm Craft Ventures, admitted the talk got off to a rocky start but said things went well after they switched from Musk’s account to his own. “Now, if your viewers go to Twitter and listen to the recording, they’re probably going to be wondering what all the fuss was about,” he told Bloomberg TV on Thursday. “When we started in a room on my account, we got used to it perfectly.”

The Twitter Spaces event was meant to kick off DeSantis’ 2024 year presidential campaign. More than 500,000 people waited more than 20 minutes for the event to start, and people who wanted to join were often kicked out. DeSantis and Musk joked they broke the internet.

The malfunction was widely mocked online, and Sacks failed to challenge DeSantis on key points like his fight with the Walt Disney Co. or restrictions on school teaching about race or sexuality, and a decision to allow only supporters of the candidate to ask questions. Sacks defended the discussion, saying that after the initial failure, it went perfectly and that the hour-long conversation was not enough to cover all topics.

“We tried to ask him some tough questions,” Sacks said.

Sacks blamed the deadline for not being able to air DeSantis’ controversial views on abortion. “I think it’s an important issue and he needs to talk about it,” Sacks said. “We couldn’t deal with every single topic in this town hall. We’ve covered so many topics, and it still feels like we’re scratching the surface. I think there will be other avenues for the candidate to engage with.”

Sacks said, “Twitter is keen to become an open platform, a town hall that candidates can use.”