Former President Donald Trump (TASS)
NEW YORK – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was once considered Donald Trump’s closest rival in the Republican presidential primary, said he was dropping out of the presidential race in favor of the former president.
"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," he said in a video address posted on his X (formerly known as Twitter) page.
"It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance," the 45-year-old governor said.
"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," he said.
DeSantis secured the second spot in the Iowa caucuses last week with 20.1 percent of the vote.
He pulled out two days before the New Hampshire primary. (TASS)
