Ron DeSantis says he has raised more than $8Million in first 24 hours of ... trends now

Ron DeSantis has raised $8.2 million in the first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, his campaign said Thursday, despite his disastrous campaign lunch on Twitter.

The massive sum cements his position as the main rival to former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, and far exceeds the amount raised by President Joe Biden over the same period.

DeSantis formally kicked off his campaign Wednesday night in a shambolic announcement when the Florida Governor joined Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces - the app's live audio streaming feature.

But the stream was delayed and crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time.

However, it appears this has not slowed his campaign down or dampened supporters' enthusiasm as they said donors raised $1 million in just a single hour.

DeSantis' early campaign funding also pips President Biden who managed to race $6.3 million in his first 24 hours after initially announcing his candidacy in 2019, and the $6.1 million raised by the former Texan Congressman Beto O'Rourke.

This is also double the financing raised by Trump's campaign in the same time period after his criminal indictment in March earlier this year.

The $8.2 million in funding for the DeSantis campaign includes both online contributions and donors who gave their money at the 'Ron-O-Rama' campaign event at the grand ballroom in the Four Seasons, Miami.

It is unknown how many donors have contributed to the campaign so far. 

The substantial total also does not include financing secured by pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down. The funding from the super PAC can be directly transferred to DeSantis's campaign. It is unknown how much money is in the super PAC.

The influx of funding

read more from dailymail.....