Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is gearing up for her one-on-one primary battle against former President Donald Trump in New Hampshire after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday afternoon.
“We just heard that Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race. And I want to say to Ron, he ran a great race. He’s been a good governor. And we wish him well,” Haley said at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.
“Having said that, it’s now one fella and one lady left,” Haley continued, referring to herself and Trump. “There were 14 people in this race, a lot fellas, all the fellas are out, except for this one. And this comes down to what do you want? Do you want more of the same or do you want something new?”
DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race via a video posted to his X account, and threw his support behind Trump and called Haley a “repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism.”
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“If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. 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. Accordingly, I am today suspending my campaign,” DeSantis said.
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“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” he said, adding: “He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
The announcement comes after Trump handily won the Iowa caucuses last week, winning 98 of the 99 counties, and is leading polls ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
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Trump has 55% support among those likely to vote in the primary, compared to Haley’s 36% support and DeSantis’ 6% support, a Suffolk University, the Boston Globe and NBC10 poll found. Other polls have found a tighter margin between Trump and Haley, including a CNN poll that found Trump has 50% support to Haley’s 39%.
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“We’re gonna get our kids reading again and go back to the basics in education. We’re gonna secure our border once and for all,” Haley continued in her remarks to voters after DeSantis dropped out. “And we are going to have a strong America that we can all be proud of. That’s our goal. That’s what we’re doing. We’ve got two days until New Hampshire goes to the polls. And we’re going to make sure that we fight all the way until the last second.”
“May the best woman win,” she continued.
Trump told Fox News Digital on Sunday that he’s “very honored” DeSantis endorsed his run for the White House, adding he looks forward “to working together with him to beat Joe Biden.”
“Very honored to have his endorsement,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “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.”
