Avoiding DeSantis-Like Chaos On Twitter? Musk Upgrades ‘System’ For Interview With Robert Kennedy Jr

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 Democratic Party presidential candidate and a nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, joined Elon Musk for a Twitter Spaces session on Monday June 5th — and the microblogging site got ready ahead of time to ensure it didn’t repeat the chaos that ensued during Florida Governor Ron DeSantis much anticipated 2024 campaign announcement on the platform. 

Twitter Spaces is a relatively new addition to the social media platform (launched January 2021) that allows user to have live audio conversations on Twitter. 

Twitter Spaces has informed netizens that due to some infrastructure maintenance, there might be some “minor turbulence.” Musk provided additional content stating that ahead of Kennedy Jr.’s interview on Monday, the microblogging site’s “System is being upgraded.” 

For the unversed, it all started when on Friday, Kennedy Jr. took to Twitter to blast Meta Platforms Inc.’s (NASDAQ:META) Instagram stating that when they use the TeamKennedy email address to set accounts on the platform, their account gets an automatic “180-day ban.” 

He said that Instagram still hasn’t reinstated his account and silencing a “major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic.” He also thanked Musk, saying, “Twitter allows my campaign and me to have a voice.”

Later, Musk asked him if he would like to do Spaces, to which Kennedy Jr. responded with, “How’s Monday at 2 p.m. ET?” 

Last week, DeSantis’ announcement for the 2024 presidential run faced numerous issues on Twitter during a Space session with Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks. It was reported that the platform wasn’t expecting such an influx of users as, at one point, the event had slightly over half a million listeners. 

Nevertheless, this doesn’t seem to have dampened the spirit of Musk and other presidential candidates who intend to appear on Twitter Spaces. And it seems as though the updates were well-applied, as Monday’s conversation went relatively smoothly. Around 64,000 listeners were able to join the live conversation with none of the technical difficulties seen earlier during Musk’s interview with DeSantis. Similarly, Twitter co-founder and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey might not see eye-to-eye with Musk on how the tech billionaire handles everything, but he is also excited about this development.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Jessi Rexroad Shull and Virginia Van Zandt