Florida Gov. Ron Desantis on Sunday suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the New Hampshire caucus and endorsed Donald Trump, ending a bid that fell short of expectations to emerge as a serious challenger to the former president.
Desantis was seen as a front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination and a natural successor to Trump because of his combative style and deeply conservative views. At the beginning of 2023, he had an advantage over Trump in several polls.
However, support for the Florida governor has been declining for several months, both due to a flawed campaign strategy and Trump's influence over much of the party's base.
"It's clear to me that the majority of Republican caucus voters want to give Donald Trump another chance," he said in a video posted on the X network.
Desantis also mocked former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has long been his rival for the party's second-place finish, saying Republicans "can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, the repackaged form of warmed-up corporatism that Nikki Haley represents." .
The end of Desantis' campaign means that Haley is now the last Republican in the race with a chance — albeit a slim one — of denying Trump the nomination. The winner of the Republican nomination contest will most likely face President Joe Biden in the November general election.
According to most polls, more than 70 percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion of Trump. That put Desantis in a position where he had to appeal to voters who still admire Trump, as well as those who passionately dislike him.
Desantis failed on both counts. He never successfully made the case to Trump supporters why he was the better option, while Republicans who wanted to dump the former president split their votes among multiple candidates.
Haley, in particular, emerged as the favorite among moderate Republicans as the race consolidated.
Where Desantis differed from Trump on policy, he almost always took a more conservative position.
In April, he signed a ban on abortion after six weeks in Florida, though it raised suspicions among some donors and moderate Republicans.
He opposed additional US military aid to Ukraine and took punitive action against Walt Disney after the company came out against a Florida law restricting discussion of gender and sexuality in classrooms.
While many major donors initially supported Desantis, they began to express dissatisfaction since the summer. Some cited Desantis's uncompromising stance on abortion as the reason.
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