important news
His polls have been bad recently – Donald Trump has overtaken him: Republican Ron DeSantis has announced his withdrawal from the US presidential bid. Now he is backing his former rival.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is withdrawing from the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis said in a video on the texting service X that he was abandoning his former rival, Donald Trump, and now supporting him.
“I can't ask our supporters for their time and donations when we don't have a clear path to success,” DeSantis said in his video message. That is why I am ending my campaign today. DeSantis posted the video with a quote from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill: “Victory is not final, failure is not fatal: what matters is the courage to pursue it.” In German: “Victory is not final, failure is not fatal; what matters is the courage to continue.”
Two days before the Republican primary in New Hampshire, DeSantis threw his support behind the former president. “He has my support because we can't go back to the old Republican Party,” DeSantis said. This includes Nikki Haley. Over the weekend, they stepped up their verbal attacks on Trump and questioned the 77-year-old's mental state and whether he deserves another term as president.
Trump has a clear lead over DeSantis in the Iowa primaries
DeSantis has been trailing Trump in recent polls. Trump also clearly won the Iowa primaries. According to CNN's calculations, Trump won more than 50 percent of the vote there. DeSantis was 30 percentage points behind.
Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, is still running. She nearly tied with DeSantis in the Iowa caucuses, but finished third behind him.
And believable Start, then problems
Initially, DeSantis entered the 2024 presidential campaign with good prospects of running against Trump. Pre-election polls showed the 45-year-old in a strong position to defeat Trump. He and his allies amassed a campaign budget of more than $100 million, and he has a strong policy record on issues important to many conservatives, such as abortion and the way race and gender are taught in schools.
But the reality was otherwise: From being announced as the Republican nominee, plagued by technical glitches, to ongoing problems with staff and his campaign strategy, DeSantis struggled to secure a spot in the primaries. DeSantis also had a reputation for being wooden in his personal dealings with voters. His campaign was marked by appearances in televised debates, which opponents described as “robotic”.
Anyone seeking to become the Republican nominee must first win intra-party votes in individual states. All indications are now that November's presidential election will see a new version of the campaign between Trump and Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
