Ron DeSantis Ends 2024 Run For President
And then there were two.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped a Sunday bombshell as he announced the suspension of his campaign for president. Once heralded as the chief rival to former President Donald Trump, he continually lost ground as the race for the White House intensified.
DeSantis immediately threw his own support behind Trump, saying the GOP “can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, the governor explained, “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”
DeSantis told his obviously disappointed supporters, “If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it.”
He added that he could not ask anyone to donate and volunteer time “if we don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
Sunday’s pronouncement was a far cry from the optimism that surrounded the DeSantis camp last year. The governor and his allies collected a war chest of over $100 million, and his impassioned battles in the culture wars endeared him to many conservatives.
But that rosy outlook was short-lived. DeSantis finished a distant second to Trump in Iowa, losing the caucuses by 30 percentage points to the former president.
That was despite his campaign going “all in” to establish his challenge to Trump in the Hawkeye State.
And with the first primary looming on Tuesday, the governor largely bypassed New Hampshire to focus on rallying in South Carolina. But when he trailed Trump and Iowa third-place finisher Haley by wide margins, the handwriting was on the wall.
Saturday evening he informed CNN and NBC News that he would skip scheduled appearances on the Sunday morning talk shows. At that time he cited a scheduling conflict.
Sunday’s announcement leaves Trump and Haley as the only remaining major Republican candidates. And it is unquestionably a boost to the former president, though he hardly needed it.
Besides DeSantis throwing his endorsement behind Trump, it is difficult to imagine his supporters defecting to the Haley camp. With New Hampshire looming on Tuesday, Trump’s chances for an even stronger primary showing just improved dramatically.
