Ron DeSantis suspends his campaign for 2024. The governor of Florida himself announces it in a video posted by his staff. «I don’t see a clear path to victory. This is why I am suspending my campaign. It is clear to me that the majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis says in a 4 minute and 32 second video.
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The primaries in New Hampshire
New Hampshire fever is rising. On the eve of Tuesday 23rd primaries, the first real ones after the caucuses in Iowa, the clash between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley is becoming increasingly tougher, as the two real candidates remain in the state after the flight of Ron DeSantis and the exit from the run of Vivek Ramaswamy.
The big surprise then comes with DeSantis’ withdrawal from the race for the White House. If he also supported Trump, as the first rumors reveal, the game between the Republicans would already be practically over.
The latest polls
The latest polls still give Trump a wide lead over Haley, 50% of the vote against 39%. “Haley is ineligible, with her the Democrats would win,” attacked the former president in her last rally in the state, invoking the specter of links between the former UN ambassador and her Democrats.
“He is using the money of left-wing extremists to carry out his radical programs,” Trump warned without providing any evidence of this but simply insinuating in a part of the Republican electorate the doubt that Haley is yet another representative of the establishment of Washington and Wall Street, the one against which the tycoon decided to take the field in 2016.
Success in Iowa
On the other hand, the avalanche of Trump’s success in Iowa, analysts maintain, is mainly due to the fact that, net of his personal wealth and the avalanche of investigations in which he is involved, the majority of supporters of the Grand old party continue to perceive the former president as “one of them.”
The 52-year-old former governor defends herself by pointing to one of the most convincing arguments she has at her disposal. Namely, the advanced age of her rival.
«He said that Joe Biden was taking us towards the Second World War, maybe he meant the third… he said he ran against Barack Obama, but he never did. At 80, his mental health will continue to decline. It’s human nature,” attacked Haley after mocking Trump for confusing her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The former ambassador is banking on the vote of independents – 4 out of 10 in the state declare themselves independent. But according to some experts she made the strategic mistake of not participating in the debates on local TV which would have brought her into the living rooms of thousands of undecided people.
Wall Street support for Haley
Haley has also gained the support of some Wall Street billionaires who will host a fundraiser for her in New York on January 30. The event will be hosted by Stanley Druckenmiller, Henry Kravis, Ken Langone and Cliff Asness, and tickets will cost between $3,300 and $33,200.
The eve of the primaries for the Democrats is more subdued. After the dispute with the state party that called them despite the national leaders choosing South Carolina as the site of the first consultations, Biden disappeared from the state’s radar even though his supporters started a silent campaign so that voters write on the ballots anyway his name.
If the president succeeds, it will be possible to claim that he won without even being on the ballot. In the event of a debacle, however, it will be possible to invoke the fact that his name was not on the list of candidates. However, whatever happens, Biden’s campaign will not officially recognize him.
Read also: Caucuses or primaries? How the early stages of US presidential elections work
