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Ron DeSantis Drops Out of Republican Primary, Endorses Trump

HeadlineJan 22, 2024

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the presidential race less than a week after he lost to Donald Trump by 30 percentage points in the Iowa caucus. In a video released on Sunday, DeSantis said he would endorse Trump.

Gov. Ron DeSantis: “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.”

With DeSantis out, the Republican race has essentially become a two-person contest between Trump and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as Trump’s U.N. ambassador. Over the weekend, Haley campaigned in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary. She questioned Trump’s mental fitness after he confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Joe Biden is now running an online ad questioning Trump’s mental capabilities, featuring Haley’s comments.

Nikki Haley: “Last night Trump is in a rally.”

Donald Trump: “You know, Nikki Haley — Nikki Haley — Nikki Haley” —

Nikki Haley: “And he’s going on and on, mentioning me multiple times as to why I didn’t handle January 6th better.”

Donald Trump: “Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people. They don’t want to talk about that.”

Nikki Haley: “I wasn’t in office then. They’re saying he got confused. He got confused and said he was running against Obama. He never ran against Obama.”

Donald Trump: “And we did with Obama. We won an election that everyone said couldn’t be won. Obama wants to — he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Brian Kilmeade: “Well, you mean President Biden. So” —

Nikki Haley: “Don’t put our country at risk like this.”

President Joe Biden: “I’m Joe Biden, and I approve this message.”

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