DeSantis: Haley must decide if she will honor pledge to endorse GOP nominee

2024 Election

By Eric Daugherty

Published Mar. 7, 2024, 9:28 a.m. ET | Updated Mar. 7, 2024

<a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/53299143451>Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking with attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition's 2023 Annual Leadership Summit at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 28, 2023.</a> (Photo/Gage Skidmore, Flickr)

Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking with attendees at the Republican Jewish Coalition's 2023 Annual Leadership Summit at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nev., Oct. 28, 2023. (Photo/Gage Skidmore, Flickr)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis weighed in on former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s futile battle to win the GOP nomination against former President Donald Trump, saying Haley must now decide after dropping out if she will honor a prior pledge to back the GOP nominee.

DeSantis, with the other former presidential Republican candidates, had to sign a pledge with the Republican National Committee to support whoever the party nominates for president in order to participate in the official party debates.

“I signed the pledge – and you signed the pledge, saying that you’re gonna not take your ball and go home. And so, I honored the pledge,” DeSantis said.

The governor had endorsed Trump for president shortly after the Iowa caucuses when he dropped out.

“She’s gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not,” he said. “The idea that somehow circumstances have changed – I think we all knew what we were doing, when we did [the pledge].”

“For me, I tell people, you know, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it,” DeSantis said.

Haley, when she dropped out of the race on Wednesday, wished the former president “well” but urged him to “earn” the voters who have not yet voted for him in the primaries.

“This is now his time for choosing,” she said.

DeSantis launched attacks on President Joe Biden ahead of November’s election, a rematch between Biden and Trump now even more clear.

The governor pointed to public opinion polling that points to a worrying picture for Biden.

“It’s not just Republicans that think that he can’t handle the job anymore,” he said. “I mean, it’s 65-70% of the public. So, that’s a lot of people that voted for him in 2020 are saying that.”