It was supposed to be a triumphant moment for both Ron DeSantis and Twitter CEO Elon Musk when the Florida governor officially kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign last night—not with a televised appearance, but with a Twitter Spaces event featuring the entrepreneur. Instead, it called to mind that time Musk shattered a Tesla Cybertruck’s windows onstage during a demonstration meant to show their strength.

The audio-only event was marred by repeated technical glitches because Twitter’s servers couldn’t handle the more than 500,000 attendees listening in. At one point, the original webcast was ended and a new one was started (with fewer listeners making it in), but tech issues persisted even after that, making the world’s second-richest person look about as competent as Roman Roy.

And while half-a-million listeners sounds like a lot, it’s pretty paltry compared to the millions of viewers Fox News averages daily—plus, Fox has video. Still, given how the announcement played out, it may be better for DeSantis that only 250,000 people ultimately tuned in to the restarted event.

Not ready for prime time

Before the debacle, some were ready to proclaim Musk the usurper of Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media throne. It made sense: While right-wingers have recently slammed Fox for becoming too liberal for their liking, Twitter has been beefing up its conservative media bona fides:

• The Daily Wire, home to polarizing figures like Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, says it will bring its podcast videos to Twitter beginning next week.
• After being dumped by Fox, Tucker Carlson announced he’d take his show to Twitter.
• Musk also reinstated the accounts of Fox News fan favorites Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

But the server meltdown that caused the glitches proved that Twitter’s not ready to take on Fox and friends just yet.

Bottom line: Musk is working to Make Twitter Profitable Again, but the DeSantis fiasco highlighted the site’s weaknesses.—ML, AR

Think of the industries that are booming these days—or just look around your house. Companies that produce smart home technology are doing very well.

Take Ring, for example: It was acquired by Amazon for $1.2b. And Google acquired Nest for $3.2b. If you missed out on investing early in these spectacular opportunities, RYSE is giving you another shot to seize some smart home potential.

RYSE is a tech startup poised to light up the smart shades market. They’re offering the only retrofitted design that motorizes existing window shades, aka the ones currently hanging in your living room and home office. And you can invest before they launch in 100+ Best Buy stores.

Invest smart in smart shades.

We lost a legend. Tina Turner, the powerhouse singer of hits like “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” and “The Best,” died yesterday at age 83 at her home in Switzerland following a long illness. The star began her singing career in the 1950s and remained hugely popular even as music transitioned into its MTV era in the ’80s and beyond. She overcame a difficult past, including an abusive marriage to guitarist Ike Turner with whom she performed several hits before leaving him and becoming a major solo artist.

US credit rating called into question. Credit rating agency Fitch warned yesterday that the fight over the debt ceiling could force it to question the US’ perfect credit rating. It said it had put the nation’s triple-A credit rating on “rating watch negative,” meaning it’s poised for a downgrade if lawmakers can’t work things out. Even negotiations that drag on too long before a deal is reached could trigger a downgrade: That’s what happened in 2011, when S&P dinged the US’ credit over default fears. S&P still hasn’t returned the nation’s score to its highest rating.

One year after Uvalde. Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by a teenager who killed 19 children and two teachers. One year later, a criminal investigation into the botched law enforcement response to the mass shooting remains ongoing, according to the Associated Press. In remarks commemorating the anniversary, President Biden once again called on lawmakers to pass gun safety laws, something families of the victims have also pushed for.

No one has mastered the art of the comeback quite like Abercrombie & Fitch.

The clothing retailer reported impressive first-quarter earnings yesterday, posting a surprise profit of $16.6 million (compared to a $16.5 million loss for the same time last year) and seeing same-store sales grow by 3%. In response, its stock jumped 31% yesterday.

The brand has come a long way: By the time former CEO Mike Jeffries was ousted from the company in 2014, Abercrombie had settled a discrimination lawsuit for $50 million, fielded sexual misconduct allegations against one of its go-to campaign photographers, and made a whole bunch of racist T-shirts. But the retail villain of the 2000s has spent almost a decade rehabbing its image.

Whatever they put in that Fierce cologne is working. The new Abercrombie, led by Fran Horowitz since 2017, is crushing it with its more extensive clothing size selection and casual logo-free tops. Even as other retailers whiffed on earnings reports the amid grim economic outlook, Abercrombie now expects its full-year net sales to grow 2–4% instead of its previously forecast 1–3%.

Looking ahead in fashion…watch the cargo pants space. Horowitz said the “non-denim bottom trend” is blowing up.—MM

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Whatever old sunblock you have buried in the bottom of your beach bag, it may be time for an upgrade. A new report by consumer advocacy group EWG found that 75% of sunscreens on store shelves contain harmful ingredients.

Despite the FDA warning about 12 potentially unsafe ingredients in sunscreen back in 2019, not much has changed on the legal side. That’s because the agency says it still needs more data before it makes any decisions. The most concerning chemical, oxybenzone, is known for hormone disruption and other issues, but remains legal for manufacturers to use.

But due to consumer pressure, only 6% of sunscreens contain oxybenzone today, compared to 60% in 2019, per the EWG study. Still, many other ingredients the FDA flagged are still widely used, including octocrylene, which becomes a carcinogen when it breaks down.

Get used to looking like the Ghost of Christmas Past. Mineral sunscreens (think zinc) are widely recommended as the safest option to avoid toxic chemicals. You can also check out EWG’s list of recommended safe sunscreens.—CC

Stat: Asian Americans make up just 7% of the US population, but luckily for your taste buds, their cuisines are overrepresented in the restaurant business—12% of the nation’s restaurants serve Asian food of some kind, and 73% of all US counties have at least one, per Pew Research. Of those, 39% feature Chinese food. The next most popular options are Japanese food (28%) and Thai food (11%). Thailand’s presence in the top three, despite the relatively small size of the Thai American population, is partly thanks to the Thai government supporting restaurants abroad as a form of diplomacy. Your move, India. (Please! We need more dosa joints.)

Quote: “This is what a recession looks like. There used to be 20 of these.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that an unidentified party guest made that economic assessment while gesturing at the mere two megayachts floating on the Mediterranean Sea beneath the cliffside venue at a star-studded event thrown by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Graydon Carter during the Cannes Film Festival. Thank you, brave truth-teller.

Read: How some people get away with doing nothing at work. (Vox)

Spoiler alert: For Saturday, we are planning a wedding-themed newsletter—because if your summer calendar is anything like ours, it’s a wedding one weekend, a bachelorette party the next, and so on…until Thanksgiving. So, we really need to debrief about what’s going down.

But we need your help: We’ve put together a list of controversial wedding practices—from reading vows off your phone to line dances—and want to know what you think about them.

Share your wedding hot takes here (it’ll take less than a minute, and you’ll have fun).

And stay tuned: The responses will be revealed on Saturday…

Best of both worlds: These are the largest urban parks you can visit for nature in the city.

From the night Max wore his wolf suit to Rushdie for kids: The 100 greatest children’s books of all time.

Bomb shelter chic: This Croatian filmmaker’s AI-generated Ikea catalogs might convince you bunker living can be stylish.

Iam Tongi is Hawaii’s first American Idol winner: Watch the performance that got him there.

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Brew crossword: It’s Mary’s two-year anniversary at Morning Brew, so to celebrate the milestone, she created a “2”-themed puzzle. Play it here.

Three headlines and a lie

Three of these headlines are real and one is faker than a “Sooo…what do you do?” at a party. Can you spot the odd one out?

1. Sea urchins could be the key to curing lactose intolerance
2. Millionaire’s elaborate jail escape plan foiled, Florida sheriff says
3. ‘American Idol’ winner Just Sam returns to singing on New York City subway for donations
4. Kentucky man accused of shooting roommate for eating last Hot Pocket

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