Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Suspends Presidential Campaign, Endorses Trump

(AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his Republican presidential campaign Sunday just before the New Hampshire primary and endorsed Donald Trump, ending a White House bid that failed to meet expectations that he would emerge as a serious challenger to the former president.

“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” he said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary comes Tuesday.

DeSantis derided former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, long his closest rival for second place in the primary race, saying Republicans “can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”

The ambitious big-state governor entered the 2024 presidential contest with major advantages in his quest to take on Trump, and early primary polls suggested DeSantis was in a strong position to

do just that. He and his allies amassed a political fortune well in excess of $100 million, and he boasted a significant legislative record on issues important to many conservatives, like abortion and the teaching of race and gender issues in schools.

Such advantages did not survive the reality of presidential politics in 2024. From a high-profile announcement that was plagued by technical glitches to constant upheavals to his staff and

campaign strategy, DeSantis struggled to find his footing in the primary. He lost the Iowa caucuses — which he had vowed to win — by 30 percentage points to Trump.

And now, DeSantis’ political future is in question after suspending his presidential bid after just one voting contest. The 45-year-old is term limited as Florida governor.

DeSantis was widely expected to be a serious Trump challenger.

Acknowledging the threat, Trump went after the Florida governor viciously in the months leading up to DeSantis’ May announcement and continued to pound him on the campaign trail, on social media and in

paid advertising in the months that followed.

Yet many of DeSantis’ problems may have been his own doing.

Fueled by his dominant Florida reelection in 2022, DeSantis sidestepped tradition by announcing his presidential campaign on X, in a conversation on the social media site with CEO Elon Musk. The site failed repeatedly during the conversation, making it all but impossible to hear his opening remarks as a presidential candidate.

In the subsequent weeks and months, DeSantis struggled to connect with voters on a personal level under the unforgiving bright lights of the presidential stage.

He irked some New Hampshire Republican officials in his campaign’s inaugural visit to New Hampshire by declining to take questions from voters, as is tradition in the state. And later, uncomfortable interactions with voters in other states were caught on camera as well.