Ron DeSantis, the
governor of Florida, who has bee
had been
when he got in
the one to beat Donald Trump.
And now what we're seeing
is that he only survived one con
only survived Iowa, and he is dr
out of the race before voters
even go to the polls.
Here where I am in New Hampshire
day after tomorrow.
This is a really stunning
decision, a stunning decline
for a candidate who had millions
and millions of dollars,
all of the donors
who were kind of not into Donald
at the beginning
of this process, way
before he even got into the race
back in May.
They said, Ron DeSantis is our g
But he clearly felt that
that was not going to happen for
The money was drying up
and the polls were making clear
that he was not going to be able
to make it very far.
And that is a deadly combination
when you are running for preside
Just in our poll
today, Fredricka,
he got only 6% here in New Hamps
He has not been advertising here
for example, since November.
And that just kind of gives
you a sense of where things are.
If you go back to Iowa,
just last week, Fredricka,
he went to all 99 counties.
He made a very big push there
and he didn't win one of them.
And so the combination of that,
all of the money that he spent
and the lack of traction
that he has been getting,
made it very clear to him
and the people in his campaign,
the people in his family,
that it was the end of the road
in this particular race
and he is suspending
his campaign Fredricka.
Well, Dana, it's
still really remarkable
because we're talking about the
of it all.
Why now, two days
ahead of the New Hampshire conte
Oh, wait a minute.
We've got that video now
in that we want to share
with everybody
that you were making reference t
Let's watch and listen.
Lines me
why I decided to run for preside
to fight for those
who have been forgotten in this
This is America's time for choos
We can choose to allow a border
or we can choose to stop it.
We can choose reckless
borrowing and spending.
Or we can choose to limit govern
and lower inflation.
We can choose political indoctri
or we can choose classical educa
These choices are symptoms
of the underlying struggle
to ensure that constitutional go
can endure
and that Western
civilization can survive.
And we launched this campaign
to bring accountability to gover
regain sovereignty
at our border, and restore
sanity to our society.
We cannot succeed as a country
if we allow our nation to be inv
Our currency to be debased,
our cities to crumble
and our kids to be indoctrinated
The DC elites who facilitated
this mess do not care about you.
And they do not work for you.
They work for themselves.
They seek to accumulate power
at your expense,
to pursue an agenda
that is harmful to the American
Citizens do not serve politician
It is the duty of politicians
to serve you.
Talk is cheap.
Actions speak louder than words.
Reversing the decline of this na
requires leadership
that delivers big results
for the people we are elected to
I have a record of leading
with conviction,
championing an agenda
marked by bold colors,
delivering on my promises
and defeating the people
who are responsible
for our nation's decline.
That is the type of leadership
we need for all of America.
Now, over the past many months,
Casey and I have traveled
across the country
to deliver a message of hope
that decline is a choice
and that we can, in fact,
succeed again as a nation.
Nobody worked harder
and we left it all out on the fi
Now, following our second place
finish in Iowa,
we've prayed and deliberated
on the way forward.
If there was anything I could do
to produce
a favorable outcome,
more campaign stops, more interv
I would do it.
But I can't ask our supporters
to volunteer their time
and donate their resources.
We don't have a clear path to vi
Accordingly, I am today
suspending my campaign.
I'm proud to have delivered
on 100% of my promises,
and I will not stop now.
It's clear to me
that a majority
of Republican primary voters
want to give Donald Trump anothe
They watched his presidency
get stymied by relentless resist
and they see Democrats using law
to this day to attack him.
Well, I've had disagreements
with Donald Trump,
such as on the coronavirus pande
and his elevation of Anthony Fau
Trump is superior
to the current incumbent, Joe Bi
That is clear.
I signed a pledge to support
the Republican nominee,
and I will honor that pledge.
He has my endorsement
because we can't go back
to the old Republican Guard
of yesteryear,
a repackaged,
formed of warmed over corporatis
that Nikki Haley represents,
the days of putting Americans
last of kowtow to large corporat
of caving to woke ideology are o
I thank all of our passionate su
who have stood by us through it
all that we had people
volunteer to come to Iowa
in the middle of a blizzard
to knock on doors
and make phone calls touched us
No candidate had more thrown at
but no candidate
had so many committed volunteers
and staff.
Finally, I want to thank my wife
and our kids, Madison Mason and
Casey's gone for above and beyon
and her support for our campaign
and for our cause.
She's not only a great wife and
she's a great American who cares
about the future of the country
that our kids will inherit.
Our kids have seen and done
a lot on the trail
from playing on the famed
Field of Dreams baseball site in
to making their first snowmen
in New Hampshire.
They are one of the reasons
we fight so hard for what we bel
Winston Churchill
once remarked that success is no
Failure is not fatal.
It is the courage
to continue that counts.
While this campaign has ended,
the mission continues.
Down here in Florida,
we will continue to show the cou
how to lead.
Thank you and God bless.
All right.
So if you're just now joining us
that is a video
where Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis
now announces
that he is suspending his campai
for the GOP nomination
in his path to the White House.
He says we don't have a clear pa
But at the same time, he also sa
Trump is superior to President B
So clearly he's throwing his sup
behind Trump, who
and every indication
through so much polling
that he is still
the leading figure in the race
for the nomination of the GOP.
And so just a couple of days ago
you heard
Nikki Haley saying
it's a two person race and so it
Dana Bash back with us now.
So we're hearing with some clari
there from Ron DeSantis that he'
He had some real criticism
for government, still works for
not for you yet.
Even with that criticism
of of government,
he is no longer on the path to t
promote some sort of change with
in the White House.
But, you know,
it's still curious
as to why he made this decision
when immediately,
even after a poor showing in Iow
he goes to South Carolina
and then he comes to New Hampshi
for at least one
campaign event
canceling on television appearan
and now has this very constructe
television announcement
that he has suspended the campai
So what happened in between all
Well, I've just been texting.
Well, first of all,
I should just tell you
give you a little bit of context
I am currently at an event.
Nikki Haley,
I'm not sure if you can
see or hear her behind me,
but I am with Nikki Haley right
in New Hampshire. So it's a bit
They delayed the start of this e
it seemed, as they were consumin
and digesting
the news that Ron DeSantis was,
suspending his campaign.
And now it is Nikki Haley
and it is Donald Trump.
They are the ones
on the Republican side of the le
who are on the ballot here.
I mean,
Sanders will likely be on the ba
but for all intents and purposes
it is, a race between them,
even more so now,
to answer your question,
as we were listening to that vid
I was texting with a DeSantis so
who said that
right after
he was in South Carolina yesterd
he went back to Tallahassee,
back home to Florida,
met with his family.
They talked
and decided that this was the be
because I think you're alluding
the plan,
at least what the campaign had t
everybody was that
he was on his way here.
He was supposed to be here
for a
an event tonight
and just a couple of hours.
And obviously, he is not coming
and that is not happening.
You know what
you said, Fred,
about the idea
that even though he did so poorl
he did not win one
county in the 99 counties of Iow
He still went to South Carolina,
still came here,
went back to South Carolina.
The question that you asked
a very good one is why?
My experience
in covering these processes,
these primaries, particularly wh
sort of within the party,
you know, the early process,
the nominating process,
it takes a while for the candida
and the candidate's family
and top supporters.
But this is a very personal deci
to go through,
I don't know
sort of the stages of campaign g
and to figure out that it is, in
the end of the road.
And he has been out there for so
for so many months,
mostly in Iowa in recent times.
And it
it takes a while
for this kind of thing to sink i
It is not unique
to Ron DeSantis to not figure it
or at least to come to terms wit
You know, the day after,
even the night of.
And so that is what has happened
Now, I will say you mentioned th
Fred DeSantis
was supposed to be on my show
this morning on State of the Uni
and also on Meet the Press on NB
They canceled late last night or
last evening.
They said it was for logistical
His campaign is insisting that i
still the case
that he hadn't decided
until this afternoon.
We'll take them for their word o
that this was a decision
that he and
his family
came to while he was home in Flo
after leaving South Carolina Fre