Former President Donald Trump thanked and praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for endorsing him after dropping out of the GOP presidential nomination race at a rally on Sunday night, ending an acrimonious feud that lasted more than a year and saw Trump repeatedly launch personal attacks against his rival.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally at ... [+]
At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump said he wanted to “thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job,” adding that DeSantis ran a “great campaign.”
The former president said he appreciated DeSantis for being gracious and endorsing him and he looked forward to working with the Florida Gov. and called him “a really terrific person.”
Commenting on DeSantis’ campaign, Trump said he did a good job in a “tough situation” and told his supporters that running a campaign was not easy—“They think it’s easy doing this stuff, right? It’s not easy.”
In his speech, Trump only referred to DeSantis as “Ron”, having promised a few hours earlier to retire the mocking nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Earlier on Sunday, DeSantis announced he was ending his presidential campaign, which will now be a race between Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. In a recorded speech announcing his exit from the race, DeSantis said: “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.” DeSantis was, however, far from effusive in his praise for the former president after more than a year of being the receiving end of bitter personal attacks. The Florida Gov. said his decision to back Trump was based on the fact that he was “superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden.” He added: “I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honor that pledge.”