On Sunday, January 21st, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended his campaign to be the Republican nominee for President of the United States. This came almost a week after his second-place finish in the Iowa caucus, carrying 9 delegates and 21.2% of the vote, to Trump’s 51% and 20 delegates. His numbers in polls taken from New Hampshire and South Carolina showed DeSantis coming a distant third. With the New Hampshire primary being the 23rd, he suspended his campaign, throwing his support behind President Trump.
Governor DeSantis started his campaign via Twitter Spaces on May 24th of last year. He has campaigned on the successes he had as Governor of Florida, urging voters to let him apply that to the country. His stump speeches frequently noted ‘Decline is a Choice’ and that Florida was the blueprint for America’s revival. DeSantis also was a big proponent of using military force on our southern border, completing Trump’s wall, ending “wokeness” and battling “woke” corporations, and not draining, but breaking the DC swamp.
When the Iowa primary resulted in a resounding Trump victory, with DeSantis in second, the campaign and other affiliates of the DeSantis campaign pushed for a victory in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Governor DeSantis, however, decided against continuing his campaign, citing that the electorate wants Trump, and opting not to get in the way of that, presumably to further hinder Fmr. South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s campaign.
“Following our second-place finish in Iowa, we’ve 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,” Governor DeSantis told supporters on Sunday, “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, today, I am suspending my campaign.”
Governor DeSantis continued, urging supporters to throw their support behind President Trump in re-electing him.
“I’ve had disagreements with Donald Trump such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci. Trump is superior to the current incumbent Joe Biden. That is clear. 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 yester-year.”
Following DeSantis’ dropping out of the running for nominee, his opponent Nikki Haley, also running for the Republican nomination, reiterated her assertion that it’s a “two-person race now,” which she was criticized for because she had said that post-Iowa caucus in which she came in third.
Governor Gavin Newsom of California, a political rival of the Florida Republican, also took a swipe at DeSantis suspending his campaign on X (formerly known as Twitter), writing “Fire sale on all Ron DeSantis merch today!”
President Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, suspended his attacks on Governor DeSantis and noted he was glad he was back on the team. President Trump later humorously remarked he was retiring the nickname ‘Ron DeSanctimonious.”
“I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job,” President Trump said Sunday. “He was very gracious, and he endorsed me. I appreciate that, and I also look forward to working with Ron.”
