Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drops out of 2024 presidential race, endorses Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 Republican presidential race and endorsed former President Donald Trump two days before the New Hampshire primary. 

The Florida governor announced his decision to drop out in an X video on Sunday afternoon.

DeSantis, 45, finished in second place in last week’s Iowa caucuses with 20.1% of the vote, outperforming some polling expectations, but only narrowly defeating former Ambassador Nikki Haley and coming in 30 points behind Trump, who achieved a historic and commanding victory in the Hawkeye State.

DeSantis’ departure from the race comes after his campaign went “all in” on Iowa, betting that a strong ground game, events, visits to all 99 counties and endorsements from top Iowa Republicans would propel him to a strong showing leading into elections in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

THIS 2024 GOP CANDIDATE WAS TARGETED BY WAY MORE ATTACK ADS THAN ANY OTHER HEADING INTO THE PRIMARY ELECTIONS

DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected to a second term as Florida governor 14 months ago, was once the clear alternative to former President Donald Trump in the Republican White House race. Multiple polls showed DeSantis leading Trump before jumping into the race, but he faltered out of the gate with a glitch-riddled campaign announcement on Twitter, now known as X.

The governor was backed by the big-spending outside PAC Never Back Down. However, after a series of campaign setbacks over the summer and autumn, and after getting hammered by negative ads, DeSantis saw his support in the polls erode.

The governor’s departure from the race essentially means a head-to-head matchup between former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and former President Donald Trump. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report