Florida Governor Ron DeSantis abandoned his campaign for the presidency of the United States on Sunday (21) and announced his support for former President Donald Trump in the Republican Party race.
After his quiet victory in re-election as governor of Florida in 2022, many considered DeSantis to be the strongest name within the party to confront Trump in the Republican primaries.
“If there was anything I could do to achieve a positive outcome, like more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do that. But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear position.” “The path to victory. Therefore, I will be suspending my campaign today,” DeSantis said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“It's clear to me that the majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. They've seen his presidency thwarted by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him. I've had disagreements with Donald Trump, Like the coronavirus pandemic and the importance he gave to Anthony Fauci, (but) Trump outperforms current President Joe Biden.”
On Fox News, Trump said he “feels very proud” to support his former rival. He added: “I look forward to working with him to defeat Joe Biden, the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country.”
“I have signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor that. He has my support, because we cannot return to the old guard Republicanism of the past, a repackaged package of warm unionism represented by Nikki Haley.”
With her withdrawal, Haley becomes Trump's main competitor within the Republican Party. She reacted to the news on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.
“I want to tell Ron he ran a great race. He was a good governor and we wish him the best. However, he now has one colleague and one lady left,” the pre-candidate told supporters.
At 45 years old, DeSantis has spent most of his career in public service and government.
While at Harvard Law School, he was commissioned as an officer in the Navy.
DeSantis briefly served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida before being elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012.
He was largely politically unknown in Florida when he ran for governor in 2018 and was not the favorite to win the Republican nomination.
After receiving the support of then-President Trump, who praised him during the election campaign and in television ads, he won the election by a narrow margin.
The former president has since taken credit for DeSantis' win and accused his fellow Republican of disloyalty for challenging him for the presidential nomination.
In 2022, DeSantis was re-elected by nearly 20 percentage points.
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