By Illinois Review
On Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on X that he was suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing President Donald Trump, bringing to an end an unimpressive campaign that saw him trailing Trump by more than 50 points at any given time since he announced his candidacy for President last May.
DeSantis posted the video announcement on X with the caption, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
In the nearly five minute video, DeSantis explains why he was suspending his presidential campaign, saying,
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance. They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him. While I have had disagreements with Donald Trump, such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear.”
DeSantis went on to say,
“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee and I will honor that pledge.”
The Florida governor then pivoted and leveled an attack against Ambassador Nikki Haley, the only remaining candidate in the race challenging Trump.
“We can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear — a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism — that Nikki Haley represents.”
DeSantis garnered national attention for his response during the pandemic and his commitment to keeping Florida open and free – but during the early days of COVID, DeSantis did shut down the state for a period of time – issuing mandates and encouraging residents to wear facial coverings, social distance and to get vaccinated.
During a speech during the early months of the pandemic, DeSantis laid out his plan for Florida residents to get vaccinated, saying,
“Each vaccine requires the individual to take two doses…as more vaccine becomes available, we of course will want to get that into the broader senior community first, and then the broader community at large.”
DeSantis also heaped praise on Dr. Anthony Fauci in the early days of COVID, saying,
“They are not getting a lot of sleep and they are really focusing on a big country that we have, and uh, from Dr. Birx, to Dr. Fauci….they are really doing a good job…”
Last May, DeSantis announced that he was running for President on X – but unfortunately, the announcement was plagued by glitches and audio issues, making it difficult for people to hear the Florida governor’s big announcement.
DeSantis was widely mocked and the announcement created an embarrassing moment for DeSantis and his campaign team – a nightmare scenario for any political candidate.
Last Spring, several Illinois Republican Party officials lined up early behind DeSantis, including Republican national committeeman Richard Porter and AM 560 radio host and state central committee member Jeanne Ives.
During a May 25th Facebook post, Porter wrote, “I am down in Miami helping DeSantis with his launch, and I am working the phones and emails to raise first day money for him — could you give today?”
During the 2022 primary, Porter was one of the architects of the failed Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin’s campaign for governor that ended in a humiliating defeat – serving as “honorary” co-chairman of Irvin’s campaign, where he remained a close advisor and confidante to the Aurora mayor. Irvin would lose the primary to the conservative grassroots candidate by an astonishing 43 points.
State central committee member Jeanne Ives also backed DeSantis – and during an interview in Crain’s Chicago Business on May 30th, Ives said and tweeted, “I’m a DeSantis fan…I like a strong governor with a proven record of accomplishments…Florida has, what, a $21 billion budget surplus…”
It remains unclear if the IL GOP will announce their support of Trump or if they will remain neutral during the presidential primary, despite Trump being the clear frontrunner and presumptive nominee for President.
The New Hampshire primary is on January 23rd. As of Sunday afternoon, Haley remains in the race.
