DeSantis gives Haley the two-horse race she wanted

Ron DeSantis dropped out of the US presidential race on Sunday afternoon, throwing his support behind Donald Trump. DeSantis, once dubbed “DeFuture” by the Murdoch-owned New York Post, was seen as the most likely candidate to dislodge Trump’s hold on the Republican party after his landslide reelection as Florida governor in 2022. His exit leaves the Republican primary as a two-horse race between Trump and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. What went wrong? DeSantis faced a Republican party where more than 70 per cent of members still favour Trump. He failed to convince Trump-backers that he was the better alternative, while Haley swept up moderate Republicans and independents. DeSantis’s expensive campaign in Iowa – organised by his funding group Never Back Down – “could go down as one of the most colossal bonfires of cash in American political history” says the NYT, after he failed to win a single county despite visiting all 99 of them at least once. Haley, still in a longshot second place, took a moment to enjoy the news. “It’s now one fella and one lady left,” she told supporters in New Hampshire ahead of tomorrow’s primary. “May the best woman win.”