Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his 2024 presidential campaign Sunday after finishing a distant second in the Iowa caucuses last Monday.
“Nobody worked harder, and we left it all out on the field. Now, following our second-place finish in Iowa, we prayed and deliberated on the way forward. If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome—more campaign stops, more interviews—I would do it,” DeSantis said. “But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources [when] we don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
The Florida governor endorsed former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.”
“While I’ve had disagreements with Donald Trump, such as on the coroanvirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent, [President] Joe Biden. That is clear,” the governor added. “I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge.”
DeSantis contrasted Trump with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the only remaining top challenger to the former president.
DeSantis said Trump earned his 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. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology, are over.”
According to preliminary results, Trump won the Iowa caucuses with 51.0% of the vote, with DeSantis trailing at 21.2% and Haley at 19.1%.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who took a distant fourth with 7.7%, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump as the results came in.
DeSantis had invested heavily in Iowa, visiting all 99 counties and engaging in the retail politics that traditionally wins the Hawkeye state.
Haley has poured her hopes into New Hampshire, which will hold its Republican primary Tuesday. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Trump leads with 50.3% in New Hampshire, with Haley taking a distant second at 35.3%.
Haley praised DeSantis as he dropped out. “He ran a great race, he’s been a good governor, and we wish him well,” she said.
“Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady left,” she added, slamming Trump as “more of the same.”
On Saturday, Trump touted a Rasmussen Reports poll showing him prevailing against Biden and Haley falling short.
Trump narrowly leads Biden in general election polls, which analysts say carry little weight ten months out. According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Trump has 46.6% to Biden’s 44.6%. The Electoral College, not the popular vote, decides presidential races, but these nationwide polls may prove a weak barometer for Americans’ leanings at the moment.
Trump faces numerous legal claims against him, along with efforts to remove him from ballots. He has denounced these legal attacks as witch hunts, and many fellow Republicans defend him.
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