Former President Donald Trump stopped by his campaign’s New Hampshire headquarters on Sunday, shortly after opponent Florida governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
Speaking to Granite State volunteers, the former president told the crowd as he was leaving that he would stop calling DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
“You know…it’s retired,” Trump said to the volunteer.
“Okay, I just said, will I be using the name Ron DeSanctimonious?” he added to the room of people. “I said, that name is officially retired. Thank you.”
FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS DROPS OUT OF 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, ENDORSES TRUMP
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump prepares to take the stage during a campaign rally at the Rochester Opera House on January 21, 2024, in Rochester, New Hampshire. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Later on Sunday night, Trump told supporters in Rochester, New Hampshire that his opponent “ran a really good campaign.”
“I’d like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis and, of course, a really terrific person who I had gotten to know his wife, Casey, for having run a great campaign for president,” Trump said. “He did. He ran a really good campaign.”
“I will tell you, it’s not easy,” he continued. “They think it’s easy doing this stuff, right. It’s not easy.”
The former president also called DeSantis “gracious” by giving Trump his endorsement.
FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY SAYS IT’S ‘ABSOLUTELY’ POSSIBLE FORMER PRESIDENT IS CONVICTED
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally at the Rochester Opera House on January 21, 2024, in Rochester, New Hampshire. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“He was very gracious and he endorsed me, so I appreciate it,” Trump added. “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,” the former president continued. “We have to go back. He’s put our country at great peril, at great. So I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on doing a very good job. It’s a tough situation. It’s a tough thing to do.”
Earlier on Sunday, DeSantis announced the suspension of his campaign in a video on X.
DESANTIS SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN; 2 DAYS TILL NEW HAMPSHIRE, IT’S A 2-PERSON PRIMARY
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally at the Rochester Opera House on January 21, 2024, in Rochester, New Hampshire. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the Florida governor said. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.”
“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. “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.”
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Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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