DeSantis Campaign Says it Raised $8.2M in First 24 Hours

Facts

Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ team announced it had raised a record $8.2M within 24 hours after the governor officially launched his campaign for the Republican nomination on Wednesday via a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk.¹
The exact breakdown of how the funds were raised is unknown, but the $8.2M total includes online donations and contributions to a fundraiser held in Miami on Thursday. DeSantis’ 24-hour haul surpasses Pres. Biden’s first-day fundraising of $6.3M for his 2020 campaign.²
GOP frontrunner Donald Trump raised $9.5M in the six weeks following his mid-November candidacy announcement and reportedly raised $7M in the three days following his recent indictment.³
DeSantis’ Never Back Down super PAC [Political Action Committee] has an expected budget of $200M, with $100M devoted to the political ground game.⁴
An exclusive NBC News story reported Friday that DeSantis' gubernatorial administration officials have been soliciting campaign funds from donors, which has raised ethical — and potentially legal — questions since political staff should not be involved in campaign affairs.⁵
DeSantis’ office didn't comment when asked about the allegations, but an administration official said he and other Florida state employees “personally donated” to the governor’s campaign.⁶

Narrative A, as provided by Daily Wire. DeSantis is a very serious contender for both the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and the office at large, and he only confirmed this fact with his historic fundraising effort. Just like he has done in Florida, DeSantis is bringing voters from many different backgrounds together, and he's getting immense support from donors big and small. Money is a key factor in many political races, but it certainly won’t be an issue for DeSantis who continues to be immensely popular in the GOP ecosystem.
Narrative B, as provided by Wayne Dupree. It's very suspicious that the day DeSantis announces record-breaking campaign fundraising, NBC News reports that his administration officials are soliciting money from Florida’s wealthiest lobbyists. $8.2M in 24 hours doesn’t come from the average Joe chipping in a few bucks, and DeSantis is clearly very friendly with some of the nation’s most wealthy donors. If DeSantis did indeed mix his gubernatorial administration with his presidential campaign, this could be a massive sign of corruption.