Donald Trump Thanks 'Terrific' Ron DeSantis for Dropping Out of 2024 Election Race: 'I Appreciate It!'
Jan. 22 2024, Published 9:34 a.m. ET
Donald Trump actually had some nice things to say about his political rival Ron DeSantis after he announced he would be dropping out the 2024 election race on Sunday, January 21.
“Before we begin, I’d like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis and, of course, a really terrific person who I’ve gotten to know, his wife Casey, for having run a great campaign for president,” said Trump, 77, on the same day during a political rally in New Hampshire. “He did. He ran a really good campaign.”
“I will tell you, it’s not easy. They think it’s easy doing this stuff, right? It’s not easy,” the former president continued. “But as you know, he left the campaign trail today at 3 p.m. and in so doing, he was very gracious and he endorsed me. So I appreciate it. I appreciate that, and I also look forward to working with Ron and everybody else to defeat Crooked Joe Biden. We will have to get him out. We have to get him out. He’s put our country at great peril, at great peril.”
“So I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job,” he concluded. “It’s a tough situation. It’s a tough thing to do.”
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DeSantis and Trump were constantly fighting to be the Republican nominee ahead of the election.
DeSantis began to cancel media appearances on Sunday, leading him to call it quits altogether.
"If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it," DeSantis said in the video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. "But I can't ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don't have a clear path to victory."
DeSantis then decided to endorse Trump as he now goes to head-to-head with Nikki Haley.
"Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign," he added. "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 this day to attack him."
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For his part, Trump was touched by DeSantis' decision.
"I look forward to working together with him to beat Joe Biden, who is the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country," Trump said, adding that he will officially retire using "Ron DeSanctimonious" while on the campaign trail.