DeSantis Criticizes Haley As He Leaves the Race

(RightWing.org) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on January 21 that he was officially leaving the GOP primary race. The move left former President Donald Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley the sole contenders in a match that has consistently swung in the MAGA leader’s favor. DeSantis sealed his decision by criticizing Haley and officially endorsing Trump.

Then There Were Two

Florida’s Voice announced DeSantis’ decision, also sharing the news on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. It noted the Florida governor’s reasoning, following the results of the Iowa caucuses, that the majority of Republicans want to see Trump return to the White House. The former commander-in-chief won the initial race by a landslide, claiming 51% of the GOP votes, while DeSantis came in second with 21.2%, and Haley trailed behind both men with 19.1%.

DeSantis saw the results as a sign that he had no real path to the nomination, stating that he would do more to rally voters in his direction if he could, but there’s nothing left for him to do at this point but to step down. He told voters that he wasn’t going to waste any further resources on the effort when they’ve made their will clear.

Criticisms Unleashed

Despite the “disagreements” DeSantis and Trump have had over the recent months, the Florida governor was happy to endorse his former competitor as he stepped down. He also had no problem slamming Haley, saying she stood as “a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism.” DeSantis implied that a vote for Haley would be a step backward toward the “old Republican guard.”

NBC News shared earlier in January that DeSantis felt he was the only candidate who could beat Trump in the primaries. He also claimed Haley was the choice of the “Never Trumpers” and other voters — many of whom might not necessarily be die-hard Republicans. The Sunshine State leader insisted that she wasn’t capable of winning over conservative voters. He even went so far as to speculate at one point that Haley was vying for Trump’s vice-presidential pick. Haley and Trump both rejected that idea.

FiveThirtyEight showed that Trump led Haley by 55.3% of the projected national vote. Although the margin was much slimmer in estimations for the New Hampshire polls, Trump swept to victory and Haley will need to re-evaluate if she wants to remain in the race.