Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sharply criticized former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for not endorsing former President Trump’s bid for the presidency after suspending her campaign.
DeSantis made the remarks during an appearance on Newsmax’s “The Balance,” citing the pledge signed by Republican primary candidates promising to endorse the party’s eventual nominee.
“I signed the pledge, and you signed the pledge saying that you’re gonna not take your ball and go home,” DeSantis told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling in an interview. “And so I honored the pledge, and she’s gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not.”
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attends the drivers meeting prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The governor continued, “But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed… I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that, and you’ve got to make a judgment about whether that’s meaningful to you. And so for me, I tell people, you know, if I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it.”
Haley ended her White House bid Wednesday morning after losing almost every state on Super Tuesday, rendering a victory nearly impossible for the former South Carolina governor.
“I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done it. I have no regrets. And although I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in,” Haley said as she spoke at her presidential campaign headquarters on Daniel Island, in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.
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Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks as she announces she is suspending her campaign in Charleston, South Carolina. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
However, Haley did not immediately endorse Trump, who is on course to clinch the GOP presidential nomination in the next week or two.
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” Haley said as she pointed to those who supported her during her White House run. “This is now his time for choosing.”
The former president on Tuesday swept 14 of the 15 states from coast to coast that held Republican presidential primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, moving Trump much closer to locking up the GOP nomination and into a general election rematch with President Biden.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump arrives for an election-night watch party at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
While Haley did not endorse Trump, top Haley surrogate Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina told Fox News on Wednesday morning that “if not today, she will” support the former president.
Norman, who endorsed Haley a year ago, added in a “Fox and Friends” interview that “at the end of the day, she will come on board.”
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.