Former President Trump praised his former Republican primary rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), on Sunday, hours after the governor withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Trump.
“I want to take a moment to congratulate Ron DeSantis. He's a really great guy… He ran a great campaign for president,” Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire. Sunday meeting. “He ran a really great campaign.”
“I'm telling you, it's not easy,” he continued. “They think it's easy to do something like this, right? It's not easy.”
“I appreciate it,” he said of the support. “And I'm also looking forward to working with Ron and everyone else to defeat crooked Joe Biden. We're going to have to get rid of him.”
DeSantis withdrew from the race early Sunday, just before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. The Florida governor had recently become more critical of the former president, but remained supportive of him over former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
“After finishing second in Iowa, we have been praying and reflecting on our path forward,” DeSantis said in a video message posted to X hours before his scheduled event in New Hampshire. he said. “If there is anything I can do to stop more campaigns, do more interviews, create a favorable outcome, I will do it. But unless there is a clear path to victory, supporters I cannot ask people to volunteer their time and resources. Therefore, I am suspending my campaign today.”
“It's clear that the vast majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the governor continued. “I've had disagreements with Donald Trump, including on the coronavirus pandemic and the elevation of Anthony Fauci, but Trump is better than incumbent Joe Biden. That's clear.”
The suspension of campaigning puts an end to a highly anticipated candidacy that was once seen as a serious challenge to President Trump. Mr. DeSantis has never shown much momentum, finishing a close second in the Iowa caucuses last week.
National and state polls show Trump holding a significant lead over Haley, the only remaining candidate. Haley's campaign is focusing on New Hampshire, and hopes that a strong showing could help her outperform Trump in the remaining primaries.
Haley trails Trump by about 11 points in New Hampshire, according to Hill/Decision Desk's average of state polls. Nationally, she has a huge lead of 55%. Both numbers use polls that include DeSantis.
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