Ron DeSantis Criticizes Nikki Haley for Refusing to Endorse Donald Trump After Signing Pledge: 'We All Knew What We Were Doing'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis criticized his former Republican presidential competitor Nikki Haley for not endorsing former President Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee.

Although Haley had pledged during the Republican debates to support Trump if he were to face President Joe Biden in 2024, she has yet to bend the knee.

During an appearance on Newsmax, DeSantis told host Eric Bolling that after Haley’s defeat on Super Tuesday, and with the suspension of her campaign, he thought she would endorse Trump like he did after Iowa.

The Florida governor said her failure to turn the campaign around was “to be expected” as “she had waged a campaign on the idea that you can somehow win the Republican nomination for president by getting the votes of mostly just non-Republicans, and that just doesn’t work.”

He added, “We saw that play out in Iowa and I said at the time that she didn’t have a pathway, so I’m glad we’re all through that process and, you know, now we’re in a situation where Republicans are staring down the barrel of a President Biden who’s clearly not up to the job.”

"I signed the pledge and you sign the pledge saying that you’re gonna not take your ball and go home, and so I honored the pledge and she’s gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not," DeSantis told Bolling. "But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed, I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that, and you gotta make a judgement about whether that’s meaningful to you."

He added, “For me, I tell people, you know, if I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it.”

Haley not only pledged to support whomever the Republican nominee for president would be, but she also raised her hand during a debate in August after candidates were asked if they would still support Trump even if he was “convicted in a court of law.”

The former South Carolina governor has attempted to backtrack, claiming she'd need to see how the trials turn out before definitively saying whether or not he should have immunity.

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“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” said Haley in her campaign suspension speech.

In an interview on Sunday, March 3, Haley shrugged off questions about the Republican National Committee pledge, telling outlets, “At the time of the debate, we had to take it… In order to get on that debate stage. I think I’ll make what decision I make.”