Ron DeSantis turned up the attacks on Donald Trump in recent weeks only to “kiss the ring” and endorse Trump for president anyway.
In the final days of his 2024 presidential campaign, the Florida governor said that the former president is “running a campaign about putting himself and his issues first.”
“You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful. You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you don’t kiss that ring, then he’ll try to trash you,” DeSantis continued. “You deserve a nominee that’s going to put you first, not himself first.”
This came amid increased attacks from DeSantis on Trump’s record, his light campaign schedule, and his lack of participation in debates. While ramping up his efforts to paint Trump as a poor candidate, DeSantis also became more critical of conservative media for not being tougher on the former president: “He’s got basically a Praetorian guard of the conservative media — Fox News, the websites, all this stuff. They just don’t hold him accountable.”
On Sunday, when DeSantis announced he was suspending his campaign, he added that he was also endorsing Trump for president.
“It’s clear to me that the majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the governor said. “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 days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology are over.”
