Donald Trump marked his second win in the race for presidential nomination as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis bowed out of the Republican presidential campaign January 22 hours before the New Hampshire primary elections, making him the second Republican to make such a move. The first was biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy who suspended his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination endorsing Trump. Both DeSantis and Ramaswamy said Trump would have their full support. This leaves Trump and Haley as major contenders for the nomination.
In a video posted on social media DeSantis said: “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. 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.”
DeSantis’ downfall
The initial success during his campaign had made the high-profile governor a threat to Trump supremacy in the party. As reported by AP, he had a “political fortune well in access of $130 million and he boasted a significant legislative record on issues important to many conservatives such as abortion and the teaching of race and gender issues in schools.”
However, his luck soon petered off as he lost the Iowa caucuses to Trump by 30 points, and from there it was downhill all the way.
Planning the Exit
The stage for exit was set immediately after the Iowa loss as senior campaign officials informed top donors and supporters of the governor of his decision to quit the race through text messages and telephonic conversations, sources, on condition of anonymity revealed.
All public events and television appearances were also cancelled, citing miscommunication with the governor’s super PAC as the reason.
Even though since the past year Trump has been making personal attack on DeSantis, calling him “disloyal”, mocking his eating habits and accusing him of wearing lifts in shoes to gain a few extra inches, the governor decided to throw his weight behind the former president.
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