Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. DeSantis announced the news in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter).
“I am today suspending my campaign,” DeSantis said, after explaining why he didn’t see a way forward with his campaign. “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. … Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear.”
DeSantis explained his decision to drop out of the race halfway through the video. He said, “Now following our second-place finish in Iowa, we’ve prayed and deliberated on the way forward. If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome — more campaign stops, more interviews — I would do it,” he added. “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. I’m proud to have delivered on 100% 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. They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him,” DeSantis continued.
“While I’ve 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 continued. “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,” DeSantis said, attacking his other GOP primary opponent. “The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology, are over.”
Nikki Haley, now the only other Republican candidate left in the race against Trump, was among those who reacted to DeSantis’ announcement Sunday. She told cheering supporters, “I want to say to Ron, he ran a great race. He’s been a good governor, and we wish him well. Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady left.”
“See, there were 14 people in this race, there were a lot of fellas — all the fellas are out,” she continued, “except for this one. And this comes down to: what do you want?”
Others paid more attention to DeSantis’ decision to caption the video with a quote attributed to famed United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchhill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
The Daily Beast’s Corbin Bolies tweeted, “According to the International Churchill Society, Winston Churchill never said the words DeSantis cites to end his presidential campaign.” He included a link to proof from the Churchill Society.
Watch the message from Ron DeSantis in the video above.
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