Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for not endorsing former President Donald Trump after she dropped out of the race for the presidential nomination following her losses on Super Tuesday.
Ms. Haley suspended her campaign for the Republican nominating contest Wednesday, but pointedly stopped short of endorsing Mr. Trump, with whom she had some sharp exchanges during the race.
“I signed the pledge and you signed the pledge saying that you’re going to not take your ball and go home,” Mr. DeSantis said on Newsmax’s “The Balance” Wednesday. “I honored the pledge and she’s going to have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not.”
He added, “But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed, I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that, and you have to make a judgment about whether that’s meaningful to you.”
Both Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis signed the pledge drafted by the Republican National Committee that required candidates to vow to support whoever becomes the GOP nominee in order to participate in the debates. In a bit of irony, Mr. Trump was the only candidate running for the GOP nomination who declined to sign the pledge.
Mr. DeSantis, who dropped out in January, endorsed the former president immediately. Other former Republican hopefuls have endorsed him as well, including Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson endorsed Ms. Haley when he dropped out in January. And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, arguably Mr. Trump’s harshest critic during the race, has said he would not be voting for Mr. Trump after he ended his bid in January.
During Ms. Haley’s dropout speech Tuesday, she did not endorse Mr. Trump or President Biden. Instead, she said the former president would have to earn the votes of her supporters.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” Ms. Haley said. “And I hope he does that.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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