DeSantis withdraws from the race and supports Trump. What does that mean?

O Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis – who was seen as the candidate capable of defeating Donald Trump in the Republican Party’s primary elections – withdrew from the race this Sunday and announced that he will support the former US President.

“It’s clear to me that the majority of voters in the Republican primaries want to give Donald Trump another chance… Although I have had disagreements with Donald Trump […]he is superior to the current holder [do cargo de presidente dos Estados Unidos] Joe Biden. That’s clear”said DeSantis, in a video shared on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

In the video, DeSantis recalls that he signed a pledge to “support the Republican candidate” and that he will honor it.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024

“He [Donald Trump] has my support, because we cannot go back to the old republican guard of yesteryear, or to the reformulated form of warmed-over corporatism that [a também candidata às primárias do Partido Republicano] Nikki Hailey representa”he stated.

DeSantis was one of Trump’s main rivals to run for the White House in November for the Republican Party. His departure leaves Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the United Nations, as Trump’s only significant rival.

On Monday, remember, Trump won handily in the country’s first primaries – by a large margin -, obtaining around 56,300 votes, 51% of the total in Iowa. The former US president received the most votes in 99 Iowa counties, losing in only one, but by a single vote. Trump got 51%, compared to 21% for DeSantis and 19% for Haley.

After the initial defeat, DeSantis began to focus on New Hampshire – where Haley is ahead of Trump in some polls – and South Carolina, before announcing his withdrawal.

Trump thanks DeSantis for support (and attacks Nikki Haley)

“We are honored by the support of Governor Ron DeSantis and so many other former Republican candidates”reveals a statement from Donald Trump’s campaign team in reaction to his ‘exit’.

For the former US president’s team, now is the time for all Republicans to unite behind Trump to defeat the current president of the United States, Joe Biden, and his “disastrous presidency”. In a statement, Nikki Haley, Trump’s opponent in the Republican primaries, is called the “candidate of the globalists and Democrats.”

Nikki Haley e Ron DeSantis © JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

On Sunday night, Trump has assured that he wants to secure the nomination as Republican presidential candidate on Tuesday, in the first of the Republican primaries, in New Hampshire.

At a rally in Rochester, the largest city in the northeastern US state, Trump called on supporters to vote en masse and “set new records” in the first of the Republican primary elections, scheduled for Tuesday. Afterwards, he praised Ron again.

The Republican primaries will test former President Trump’s leadership in a state that he won by a comfortable margin in the 2016 primaries, but which has a considerably more moderate electorate than the one that gave him a big victory in the Iowa 15 caucuses. of January.

A ‘caucus’ is a meeting of people with common interests or objectives, which can be repeated in different locations in the states where they take place, with participants discussing party matters in which they indicate their preference for a presidential candidate to represent the party in November elections.

But what do the polls say?

Three high-quality polls carried out in New Hampshire after the Iowa caucuses highlighted the consistency of Donald Trump’s favoritism towards his opponents in the race for the Republican nomination, with Haley positioning herself as the main opponent. Here, note, DeSantis had not yet given up.

Already two surveys by the Boston Globe/NBC-10/Suffolk, as well as another survey carried out by St. Anselm College, show the former president surpassing former UN ambassador Nikki Haley by double digits, giving all of them 50% – or more – of votes for Trump.

Still according to the three polls, Haley wins among independents by between 10 and 20 points, while Trump emerges victorious among registered Republicans by around 40 points.

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