
Despite the apparent bad blood between the two candidates over the course of the 2024 GOP presidential primary race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis immediately offered his endorsement to front-runner Donald Trump after suspending his campaign earlier this week.
“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
Although some of DeSantis’ high-profile supporters have publicly stated that they do not plan to switch their allegiance to the former president, recent polling shows that Trump is significantly more popular among the governor’s supporters in New Hampshire than former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is still in the race.
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in the state, CNN and the University of New Hampshire surveyed likely voters and found that, of those who selected DeSantis as their first choice, Trump was more than twice as likely as Haley — 62% to 30% — to be named as their second choice.
While Haley had been able to come within striking distance of the front-runner in some previous New Hampshire polls, the same CNN report found that Trump had an 11-point advantage over his nearest rival.
Trump, who has already received the endorsements of several other former GOP primary candidates, touted the latest statement of support in a campaign event on Sunday.
“I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job,” he said. “He was very gracious and he endorsed me. I appreciate that and I also look forward to working with Ron.”
As for DeSantis, he cited a commitment that he and other candidates — with the notable exception of Trump — made early on in the primary season as a factor in his endorsement.
“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor that pledge,” the governor said.
Although Trump has not officially received his party’s nomination, DeSantis explained: “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.”
He took stock of the current trends and determined that “a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”
Even before DeSantis exited the race, Trump’s national lead has been growing over the past several months, increasing from 58% to 69% between May and January in CBS News polls.