“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance," he said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary comes Tuesday.
Trump responded to the DeSantis endorsement saying he is "very honored" by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement, telling Fox News Digital he is looking forward "to working together with him to beat Joe Biden."
DeSantis derided former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, long his closest rival for second place in the primary race, saying Republicans “can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
The ambitious big-state governor entered the 2024 presidential contest with major advantages in his quest to take on Trump, and early primary polls suggested DeSantis was in a strong position to do just that. He and his allies amassed a political fortune well in excess of $100 million, and he boasted a significant legislative record on issues important to many conservatives, like abortion and the teaching of race and gender issues in schools.
DeSantis was widely expected to be a serious Trump challenger. Acknowledging the threat, Trump went after the Florida governor viciously in the months leading up to DeSantis' May announcement and continued to pound him on the campaign trail, on social media and in paid advertising in the months that followed.
