Ron DeSantis suspends 2024 campaign, backs Trump for Republican nomination
NY Post
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his 2024 presidential bid Sunday, endorsing former President Donald Trump and bringing a quiet end to a campaign that had long been seen as the most viable Republican alternative to the 45th president.
“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,” DeSantis announced in a video address.
“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,” the 45-year-old added. “Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign.”
DeSantis said although he has had “disagreements” with Trump — notably over their respective handlings of the COVID-19 pandemic — the 77-year-old “is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear.”
The now ex-candidate added he was endorsing Trump because “we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that [GOP rival] Nikki Haley represents.
“The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology, are over.”
