Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event at the Chrome Horse Saloon on January 14, 2024 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday, two days before the New Hampshire primary.
“If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome — more campaign stops, more interviews — I would do it, but I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory,” DeSantis said in a Sunday social media post. “Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
“Trump is superior to the current incumbent Joe Biden. That is clear,” DeSantis said. “I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor 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.”
Minutes after he announced his exit from the 2024 race, DeSantis cancelled a campaign event he had scheduled in New Hampshire. The campaign said that he would instead remain in Tallahassee, Florida.
Despite claiming a victory at the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 where he edged out former Haley for second place, DeSantis has severely lagged his opponents in New Hampshire.
DeSantis was polling at 6% in the Granite State, compared to Trump’s 50% and Haley’s 39%, according to a CNN/University of New Hampshire poll conducted between Jan. 16 and 19.
In response to DeSantis’ announcement, Haley said the GOP primary contest is now a “two person race.”
Since Iowa, the DeSantis campaign has appeared to be winding down. The pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, laid off staff earlier this week and DeSantis canceled several media appearances he had scheduled Sunday.
DeSantis’ exit marks the end of a campaign that initially showed promise but has been rife with internal…
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