Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his 2024 presidential bid on Sunday, endorsing former President Donald Trump and ending a campaign long seen as the most viable Republican alternative to the 45th president.
“After our second place finish in Iowa, we have been praying and talking about the way forward. If there’s anything I can do to produce favorable results — more quit campaigns, more interviews — I’ll do it,” DeSantis announced in a video address.
“But I can’t ask our supporters to donate their time, and donate their resources, if we don’t have a clear path to victory,” added the 45-year-old. “Therefore, I am today suspending my campaign.”
DeSantis said that while he has “disagreements” with Trump — particularly over their respective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic — the 77-year-old is “greater than the incumbent, Joe Biden. That much is clear.”
The former candidate added that he supported Trump because “we cannot go back to the Republican old guard of the past, a repackaged form of reheated corporatism. [GOP rival] Nikki Haley represents.
Ron DeSantism dropped out of the 2024 race Sunday. Reuters
“The days of putting the American people last, bowing to big corporations, succumbing to developing ideologies, are over.”
South Carolina state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who was the first elected official to endorse DeSantis in Haley’s home state, immediately threw his weight behind Trump as well following DeSantis’ announcement.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Trump said he was “very honored” to have DeSantis’ endorsement.
“I look forward to working with him to defeat Joe Biden, who is the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country,” added the former president.
In a separate statement, the Trump campaign asserted: “Now is the time for all Republicans to unite behind President Trump to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and end his disastrous presidency.
“Nikki Haley is a globalist and Democrat candidate who will do everything to stop the America First movement. From higher taxes, to gutting Social Security and Medicare, and to open borders, he represents the Democratic views more than the Republican views,” the statement added. “It’s time to choose wisely.”
Haley responded in a statement saying she wished DeSantis well before turning to calls for him to clear the field for Trump.
DeSantis threw his support behind Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.
“So far, only one state has voted,” he said. “Half of his votes went to Donald Trump, and half didn’t. We are not a coronation country. Voters have a say in whether we go down the path of Trump and Biden again, or we go down a new conservative path.
“The voters of New Hampshire will have their say on Tuesday,” Haley added. “When I become president, I will do everything to show them that they made the right decision.”
Speculation about DeSantis ending his campaign was fueled by his single-digit polling numbers in New Hampshire and his super PAC, Never Back Down, canceling events ahead of the state’s first primary on Tuesday.
As recently as Friday, DeSantis maintained he would stay in the race until he saw “no way forward,” telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he “100%” has the resources to campaign until the end of March, by which time most states will have their Republican primaries and caucuses.
Trump and Haley were already acting as if DeSantis was out of the race before Sunday, with both candidates barely mentioning the Florida governor on the Granite State stump in recent days.
After a landslide re-election victory in 2022, DeSantis is widely seen as the Republican most likely to move the party beyond Trump, even after the former president announced his 2024 candidacy following a disappointing GOP midterm performance.
However, the botched campaign launched last May on Twitter Spaces — where audio and other technical problems prevented online viewers from hearing much of what DeSantis had to say — hinted at bigger problems with his efforts.
Despite having the most financial backing among campaign and super PAC endorsements, the DeSantis camp struggled with staffing and messaging strategy.
Despite their problems, DeSantis supports Trump not returning to the Republican Party “of the past.” Getty Images
The governor’s campaign underwent a series of messaging “resets” — including the departure of DeSantis’ first campaign manager, Generra Peck, in August — laid off much of their staff and was late to begin attacking Trump.
Meanwhile, DeSantis slipped in the polls as Republican voters rallied around Trump as he was hit with four felony impeachments through 2023, prompting the governor to complain last month that the former president’s legal issues had “distorted” GOP policy.
After coming in second – nearly 30 points behind Trump – in the Jan. 15 caucus, DeSantis claimed he had “punched” his “ticket” out of Iowa and would continue on to New Hampshire and South Carolina.
With DeSantis averaging just 6.3% support in New Hampshire, his team is trying to claim that he can overtake Haley in the Palmetto State, even though polls there show him a third behind her and Trump.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
