Ron DeSantis drops out of presidential race and backs Trump
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump. He quit ahead of the Republican primary election in New Hampshire, where he was polling in the single digitsm BBC reports.
Mr DeSantis was once considered a strong contender for the party's nomination - but on Sunday he said he did not "have a clear path to victory".
Nikki Haley, Mr Trump's last remaining challenger, said she was the "only one" able to beat US President Joe Biden.
Ms Haley will go head-to-head with Mr Trump in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the second in a series of state-by-state contests to pick a Republican nominee for the November general election.
In a nearly five-minute long video on X, formerly Twitter, released on Sunday afternoon, Mr DeSantis said his campaign had "left it all out on the field".
"If there was anything I could do to produce a favourable outcome - more campaign stops, more interviews - I would do it," he added, as he ended his seven-month campaign.
The Florida governor said he was endorsing Mr Trump, who is the clear frontrunner after winning the first contest in Iowa with 51% of the vote. Mr DeSantis said it had become clear that a majority of Republican voters "want to give Donald Trump another chance".
