(NewsInsights.org) – Former President and Republican contender Donald Trump swept 14 of 15 states in Super Tuesday results on March 5. In the wake of his performance, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley announced the end of her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination on Wednesday. She’s the last competitor from a wide field to exit, and Florida Governor and former GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis had some harsh words for her.
Desantis joined Newsmax anchor Eric Boling on “The Balance” on Wednesday after Haley’s campaign suspension speech. He talked about Haley’s refusal to endorse Trump thus far after signing a Republican National Committee pledge to support the eventual nominee as a prerequisite for her participation in televised debates.
The governor explained he had signed and abided by the pledge, endorsing Trump upon ceasing his campaign. He said, “[S]he’s going to have to make a decision about whether she wants to” stand by her promise. However, he denied that circumstances had changed since they signed the pact. Regarding the commitment, he said, “I think we all knew what we were doing.” He added that she would have to decide whether the commitment was “meaningful” to her.
Both DeSantis and Trump had criticized Haley’s campaign as appealing primarily to non-Republicans. Earlier in the program, DeSantis told Boling the former South Carolina governor somehow seemed to believe she could win the GOP nomination by winning votes from those outside the party. “That doesn’t work, and we saw that play out in Iowa,” he said.
In early January, per the Des Moines Register, DeSantis called Haley a “phony” without “a core set of convictions” as they faced off during the Iowa primary. While Haley focused on New Hampshire, DeSantis redoubled his efforts in Iowa, noting his rival “just doesn’t get Iowa.”
Yet, Trump alleged Democrats curiously supported Haley in Vermont, the only state she won on Super Tuesday, and elsewhere for reasons he couldn’t fathom. In his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he said polls showed nearly 50% of her voters were Democrats, and he suggested that was the source of much of her campaign funding.
In her exit speech, Haley wished Trump well but stopped short of endorsing him. She told him he would need “to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond” who had thus far declined to support him.
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