DeSantis Calls Out Haley After Failure to Endorse Trump

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has criticized Nikki Haley for not endorsing former President Donald Trump as she exited the 2024 presidential race.

Republican Party candidates for the 2024 race are required to sign a loyalty pledge in order to take part in debates. The pledge required they support any person nominated by the party as the final candidate. All GOP candidates who participated in the debates, including Ms. Haley, signed it. “I signed the pledge. And you sign the pledge saying that you’re going to not take your ball and go home. And so I honored the pledge, and she’s going to have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not,” Mr. DeSantis said in a March 6 interview with Newsmax while talking about Ms. Haley’s endorsement.

“But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed, I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that. And you got to make a judgment about whether that’s meaningful to you. And so for me, I tell people, you know, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”

Most candidates who have withdrawn from the race now endorse President Trump. This includes Mr. DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and the governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has said he will not back President Trump.

Ms. Haley withdrew from the race on Wednesday, leaving President Trump the only remaining major GOP candidate. However, she did not endorse the former president.

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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. And I hope he does.” Ms. Haley’s exit came after President Trump swept all but one of the 15 states in the Super Tuesday primaries.

In a March 6 Truth Social post, President Trump claimed that much of Ms. Haley’s funding came from “Radical Left Democrats,” who also represented a portion of her voters.

“We know what President Trump delivered the first two years of his administration,” he said. “By just two years, we had delivered the greatest economy in the history of the world, not just the U.S., and the reason was because we acted upon our core principles that we’ve always supported as conservatives, as Republicans.”

“We limited the size and scope of government. We cut regulation substantially. Of course, we had historic tax reform and tax cuts … House Republicans are going to work hand in hand with the new president, the 47th president, which we’re convinced will be President Donald Trump.”

Many Americans predict President Trump will win the 2024 race. A poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov last month asked respondents who they think will win the upcoming elections.

While 45 percent said they expect President Trump to win his second term, only 34 percent expressed confidence in President Biden winning this time around. Both white and Hispanic respondents backed President Trump to win the race, while black respondents saw President Biden as the winner.

When asked whether Joe Biden was a strong or weak leader, 60 percent of respondents said he was “very” or “somewhat” weak.

However, on March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of President Trump. “Responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court therefore cannot stand,” the Supreme Court order stated.

In a March 5 Truth Social post, the former president slammed various attempts to impede his involvement in the elections, including the multiple lawsuits against him.

“As my lead in the polls over Joe Biden continues to skyrocket, these Corrupt and Highly Political Prosecutors and Judges are getting more and more desperate and dangerous. We are rapidly becoming a Communist Country, and my Civil Rights have been taken away from me,” he wrote.