Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced on Sunday that he was suspending his 2024 presidential campaign and issued an endorsement for former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis announced his decision to back out of the race to the White House in a video posted to X. In his video, DeSantis acknowledged that after the results of the Iowa caucuses, he and his wife, Casey, “prayed and deliberated on the way forward,” adding that he would be “suspending” his campaign.
Trump won the Iowa caucuses, receiving more than 51% of the votes. DeSantis followed in second with 21.2%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received 19.1% of the vote, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received 7.7% of the vote. Following the results, Ramaswamy announced that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Trump.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” DeSantis wrote in his post, citing a quote from Winston Churchill.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024
– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm
“Following our second-place finish in Iowa, we prayed and deliberated on the way forward,” DeSantis said. “If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. But, I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
DeSantis added that it was “clear” to him that “a majority of Republican primary voters want to give” Trump a second chance to win the presidential election.
“They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him,” DeSantis added. “While I have 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.”
DeSantis’ announcement comes ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. Trump and Haley remain as candidates on the Republican side.
“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge,” DeSantis added. “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.”
The Trump campaign issued a statement responding to DeSantis’ announcement, saying it was “honored” by his endorsement and adding that it was “time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump” in order to defeat Biden.
