DeSantis looks for an ‘off-ramp’ from 2024 campaign: report
A new report from The New York Times suggests that Ron DeSantis is searching for an “off-ramp” for his underperforming 2024 campaign.
“After a humbling loss in Iowa, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is starting to signal that he is building an off-ramp from the race for the Republican presidential nomination, a seeming acknowledgment of his dim prospects of defeating Donald J. Trump given his low poll numbers in New Hampshire and South Carolina” the report begins.
The NYT goes on to say that DeSantis has redirected his focus to the 2028 election, sharing anecdotes about Trump supporters expressing their intent to vote for him if he chooses to run again in four years. He openly admitted that Trump’s decisive victory in Iowa was a significant step towards winning the nomination. Additionally, DeSantis conceded that his decision to sideline traditional media earlier in the campaign was a strategic mistake.
During an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, DeSantis acknowledged that his campaign might not follow the originally planned trajectory. Responding to a question about the campaign’s survival through the end of March, the Florida governor said “Look, my goal is to win the nomination. Had we won Iowa, we would have been in a great spot.” He hinted that if it becomes evident that winning is not feasible, he would not prolong the race unnecessarily.
“Clearly when you win Iowa by the amount he did, that’s what you want to be doing if you’re going to win the nomination,” DeSantis said, before expressing regret about his media strategy.
“I should have just been blanketing, I should have gone on all the corporate shows, I should have gone on everything,” he told Mr. Hewitt in a moment of introspection. “We had an opportunity, I think, to come out of the gate and do that and reach a much broader folk.”
“His best hope of continuing to compete, his aides have said, is for Ms. Haley to lose her home state on Feb. 24 and drop out, leaving Mr. DeSantis with a one-on-one matchup against Mr. Trump” the report states.
This comes after Tim Scott endorsed President Trump in Concord, NH on Friday.