WASHINGTON: In a major development ahead of the US presidential polls, Florida governor and GOP leader Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Presidential race and endorsed rival and former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.
In a video message on social media platform X, DeSantis said that he is ending his White House bid after an underwhelming performance in Iowa, adding that there was no clear path to presidential success for his campaign.
“If there was anything I could do to produce a favourable 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 said in the message.
He added, “Winston Churchill once remarked that success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. While this campaign has ended, the mission continues down here in Florida. We will continue to show the country how to lead”.
The Florida governor also endorsed Donald Trump, stating that despite his ‘disagreements’, the majority of Republican primary voters want to give him another chance. He also said that the country can’t go back to the politics being represented by his rival and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
“I am proud to have delivered on 100 per cent of my promises and I will not stop now. It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance…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”, he said in his address.
He added, “I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honour that pledge. He has my endorsement, because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear or repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents”.
Notably, DeSantis finished a distant second at the Iowa caucuses, but still fell well short of Trump, winning just 21 per cent support to that of Trump’s 51 per cent. He was widely expected to fare poorly in New Hampshire, where former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley is seen as the most competitive rival to the former president, The Hill reported.
A CNN poll released on Sunday found Trump with 50 per cent support among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, while his closest competitor, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, stood at 39 per cent.
DeSantis stood at just 6 per cent in the poll, below the 10 per cent minimum support he would need to win delegates there per the Republican Party’s rules. The Florida governor launched his official bid in May with the support of a number of GOP campaign veterans in his campaign apparatus and super PAC.
DeSantis had been seen as the most viable Trump alternative after cruising to re-election as Florida governor during last year’s midterm elections. His victory was in sharp contrast to how other Republicans performed around the country, including many who had been endorsed by Trump, as per The Hill. (ANI)