DeSantis drops out, endorses Trump

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 21, 2024

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he is suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing former president and Republican primary frontrunner Donald Trump.

Less than a week after placing second in the Iowa Caucus behind Trump, DeSantis posted a video to X on Sunday, explaining that he was suspending his campaign.

“Now, following our second-place finish in Iowa, we’ve prayed and deliberated on the way forward,” DeSantis said. “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. We don’t have a clear path to victory. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”

The Florida governor went on to state that it was “clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” adding that “Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden.”

“He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, or repackage form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents,” DeSantis said.

“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

DeSantis was considered a strong candidate, with some prominent conservative activists, among them Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Iowa-based advocacy group The FAMiLY Leader, hailing the governor as having a strong chance of winning the caucus.

However, last week, Trump won the Iowa contest with around 51% of the vote, while DeSantis received 21% support, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley garnered about 19%.

Shortly after the caucus results were announced, entrepreneur and bestselling author Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump.

“We’ve looked at it every which way, and I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight,” said Ramaswamy. “There’s no path for me to be the next president.”

“I am very worried for our country. I think we are skating on thin ice as a nation. … Now going forward, [Trump] will have my full endorsement for the presidency.”

Despite placing third, Haley expressed optimism about the next state level races, including the New Hampshire primary, which is scheduled for Tuesday.

Even before DeSantis dropped out of the race, Haley argued that the competition for the GOP presidential nomination was down to two people: herself and Trump.

“I’ll be back in the great state of New Hampshire,” Haley told her supporters. “And the question before Americans is now very clear. Do you want more of the same, or do you want a new generation of conservative leadership?”

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