Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his Republican presidential campaign, ending a campaign that ultimately failed to challenge Donald Trump. (Jan. 21)
Published January 21, 2024
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Florida Gov. 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 U.N. 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 GOP 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 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.”
Haley spoke at a campaigning stop in Seabrook, New Hampshire, just as DeSantis announced his decision.
“He ran a great race, he’s been a good governor, and we wish him well,” she told a room packed with supporters and media. “Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady left.“
DeSantis’ decision, while perhaps not surprising given his 30-point blowout loss last week in Iowa, marks the end of an extraordinary decline for a high-profile governor once thought to be a legitimate threat to Trump’s supremacy in the Republican Party. After months of contentious exchanges, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone late Sunday during a rally in Rochester, New Hampshire, calling DeSantis a “really terrific person.”
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: DeSantis Influencers Melt Down: ‘We’re Not Uniting Behind Trump
Published January 21, 2024
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s influencers are expressing disappointment in the governor’s decision to drop out of the Republican primary race Sunday, as many are posting salty messages such as “we reap what we sow” and others — but not all — making it clear that they do not intend to unite behind former President Donald Trump.
While much of the political world rejoiced in DeSantis’s decision to unify the party and back Trump in the primary race to focus on defeating President Biden in November, many of DeSantis’s online influencers are having a much more difficult time letting bygones be bygones.
“It’s ‘Governor Ron DeSantis’ now, is it?” Jenna Ellis sarcastically asked in reaction to a statement from the Trump campaign on DeSantis’s exit from the race and subsequent endorsement of Trump.
“No more Rob DeSanctimonious? We’re all just supposed to forget? They think so. I don’t. The audacity here to use the line, ‘It’s time to choose wisely,’” she said.
“Instead of trying genuinely to recruit DeSantis supporters, the Trump Camp takes a parting shot at @bobvanderplaats and evangelicals who wanted to be post-Trump,” she asserted:
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: OPINION: Ron DeSantis’ Presidential Run Offers Lessons on How Not to Run a Campaign
Published January 21, 2024
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has suspended his bid for the 2024 presidency, as we’ve all seen. He was not only able to leave his campaign hopefully with some cash on hand, but he spared himself the potential of an embarrassing loss in New Hampshire and South Carolina, both primaries that look to be another Trump sweep, with Haley trailing far behind.
This was the only way Ron DeSantis’s campaign was ever going to end.
Everyone who wasn’t in his tiny inner circle predicted this failure. Predicted the exact reasons, even.
The DeSantis campaign was a masterclass in a proving your critics exactly right.
— Joshua Karp (@JoshuaKarp) January 21, 2024
DeSantis also chose to endorse Trump and eschew Haley, which makes him consistent. While he had some criticism of the former president’s term in office, his fire was mainly aimed at Haley. In the debates, DeSantis scored points that exposed many of the former ambassador’s flaws as a candidate. I can appreciate that DeSantis comported with his image as a straight shooter and further cemented the trust and confidence of the American people who have watched his leadership in Florida and supported his presidential run. While he took the L, he did it with grace.
Just now seeing news that Ron DeSantis has suspended his presidential campaign. I like DeSantis, but I’ve long been of the opinion that he was running one election cycle too soon (2028).
— Darrell B. Harrison* (@D_B_Harrison) January 21, 2024
I never thought DeSantis was up to running in 2024, and I was proven correct. From the lackluster start to the campaign to his initial lack of fight toward all his opponents, it reflected a man whose heart really wasn’t in it. Monied donors and well-meaning friends pushed him in that direction, and with the Trump indictments looming it seemed a credible possibility, until it wasn’t. That’s not a dig; it’s reality. In a presidential campaign, you cannot build to energy, it has to be both feet, all in, and energy in spades—especially since your main competitor is the picture of energy, drive, and charisma. From all accounts from my friends who live in Florida, DeSantis is a great governor. He will return to his remaining two years and be able to rack up more legislative wins and fine-tune the governance of the state. Should DeSantis choose to run in 2028, he has four more years to gain some fire in the belly and recalibrate the issues that took his campaign from inspired to dispirited.
Ron DeSantis will make a fantastic President of the United States one day. #DeSantis2028 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/jUls9NPF2y
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) January 21, 2024
Sadly, political consultants will be studying this campaign as an example of what not to do, especially for the moments that mattered.
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
