It is breaking news, but barely.
Heading into this weekend when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis abruptly canceled all his scheduled Sunday talk show appearances, something seemed imminent.
As it stands now, DeSantis is out and has pledged his full support to Donald Trump, per CNBC:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday, two days before the New Hampshire primary.
“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,” DeSantis said in a Sunday social media post. “Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
“Trump is superior to the current incumbent Joe Biden. That is clear,” DeSantis said. “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 yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
Despite claiming a victory at the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 where he edged out former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley for second place, DeSantis has severely lagged his opponents in New Hampshire.
Here’s the accompanying video released by his campaign:
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024
As some commenters put it, endorsing Trump is what DeSantis should have done last year. There was no way Trump was going to be dethroned by a copycat. That’s not to diminish DeSantis’ record in Florida, it’s solid and he’s been a strong conservative leader in the state turning Florida even more Republican than it already was.
From here on out, DeSantis will be licking wounds and hoping he doesn’t become forgotten by the time 2028 rolls around. If Trump had deferred on running in 2024, DeSantis would’ve likely been a solid MAGA choice for next in line.
On the other hand, once his polls started sliding shortly after his campaign announcement last Spring, it was a bad sign from which he never recovered. He was about to get trounced in New Hampshire, better to pull the plug before things get even worse.
With DeSantis departing, Trump will benefit in New Hampshire and beyond.
