Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reacted to Ron DeSantis’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday afternoon, saying in a statement that they are “honored” to have the Florida governor’s endorsement and urging the party to unite behind the former president’s candidacy ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
“With only a few days left until President Donald J. Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, we are honored by the endorsement from Governor Ron DeSantis and so many other former presidential candidates,” the campaign said in a statement. “It is now time for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump to defeat Crooked Joe Biden and end his disastrous presidency.”
Trump’s only remaining rival Nikki Haley also reacted to DeSantis’s decision to drop out of the race on Sunday, saying in a statement he has been a “good governor” and she wishes him well.
She told voters at a town hall event in New Hampshire earlier on Sunday that DeSantis “ran a great race.”
The former South Carolina governor went on to defend her chances of taking on former president Donald Trump now that the race has narrowed to a one-on-one contest.
“So far, only one state has voted,” she said in a statement from her campaign. “Half of its votes went to Donald Trump, and half did not. We’re not a country of coronations. Voters deserve a say in whether we go down the road of Trump and Biden again, or we go down a new conservative road. New Hampshire voters will have their say on Tuesday. When I’m president, I will do everything in my power to show them they made the right decision.”
The Trump campaign attacked Haley in its Sunday statement, calling her “the candidate of the globalists.”
“Nikki Haley is the candidate of the globalists and Democrats who will do everything to stop the America First movement,” the campaign added. “From higher taxes, to decimating Social Security and Medicare, and to open borders, she represents the views of Democrats more than the views of Republicans. It’s time to choose wisely.”
DeSantis announced he had suspended his presidential campaign in a video posted on X on Sunday, just two days before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. He also endorsed former president Donald Trump.
He acknowledged in the video announcement on Sunday afternoon that he no longer had a “clear path to victory” in 2024 but emphasized that his political career is just beginning. “While this campaign has ended, the mission continues. Down here in Florida, we will continue to show the country how to lead,” the governor said.
DeSantis had put all his eggs in the Iowa basket, which won him key endorsements from Governor Kim Reynolds and influential evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats. But given that DeSantis and his allied PACs invested heavily in Iowa to the exclusion of New Hampshire, Trump’s roughly 30-point defeat proved a fatal blow to a campaign that was already on life support.
DeSantis became the latest dropout to endorse the former president, after Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Tim Scott (R., S.C.) did so last week.
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who dropped out of the race last week after a sixth-place finish in Iowa, endorsed Haley.
The New Hampshire primary on Tuesday is largely seen as
A RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polling finds Trump leading with 44.5 percent of the vote, with Haley following at 31.3 percent. The average still includes Chris Christie drawing 11 percent support before his exit from the race earlier this month. Christie supporters are expected to get in line behind Haley, but as we reported last week, some of Christie’s most ardent supporters aren’t sold on the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N.