Ron DeSantis ends 2024 presidential bid before New Hampshire, endorses Donald Trump
- On Sunday, the Florida governor ended a White House bid that failed to meet expectations he would emerge as a serious challenger to Trump
- ‘It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,’ DeSantis said in a video posted on X
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended his Republican presidential campaign on Sunday, ending his 2024 White House bid just before the New Hampshire primary while endorsing his bitter rival Donald Trump.
The decision leaves Trump and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley as the last major candidates remaining in the race ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.
This is the scenario Trump’s foes in the Republican Party have long sought, raising the stakes for this week’s contest as the party’s last chance to stop the former president who has so far dominated the race.
But as some Trump critics cheered, DeSantis nodded toward Trump’s primary dominance – and attacked Haley – in an exit video he posted on social media.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in the straight-to-camera video, delivered in a cheerful tone.
He continued: “I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honour that pledge. He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents”.