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You won’t have Ol’ Pudding Fingers to kick around anymore. “Meatball” Ron DeSantis, the current governor of Florida, has dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis actually came in second in the Iowa caucuses, winning 21% of the vote compared to Donald Trump’s 51% landslide (although the turnout was ghastly). One could have argued that DeSantis was in a better position than Nikki Haley, but I guess DeSantis and his team didn’t think so. Pudding Fingers is shutting down his campaign to spend more time with his lawyers, as Disney is still in the middle of ripping him a new one.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday ended his once-promising presidential campaign, which steadily deflated as he struggled to connect with voters and persuade Republicans to swap Donald Trump for a younger, more disciplined champion of his ideas.
As he departed the contest, DeSantis endorsed Trump, who had relentlessly attacked the Florida governor with demeaning nicknames and charges that he was disloyal. His exit came just two days before voting in New Hampshire’s primary, where Trump appears to be closing in on another victory that would underscore his unrivaled grip on the GOP.
DeSantis, 45, had seemed to many Republicans like the most viable challenger to Trump after the 2022 midterms, when the governor won reelection by a landslide. But he started to lose ground in polling even before his official campaign launch in May — via a glitchy live chat that neatly embodied the way his grand plans were going awry.
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in a video message he posted Sunday afternoon on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.”
He acknowledged “disagreements” with Trump — he spent the past year effectively calling Trump self-absorbed and ineffective — but suggested Trump’s remaining GOP rival, Nikki Haley, was worse. “We can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents,” DeSantis said.
I loved all of the “diva down” jokes and god knows, I love all of the photos and analysis of DeSantis’s high heels, sassy white boots and his completely insane laugh. Don’t let the jokes and memes fool you though – DeSantis is one of the most despicable politicians of the modern era, and the fact that he dropped out and immediately endorsed a man even more vile than himself speaks volumes. Still, we can enjoy the jokes:
Ron DeSantis should be forced to carry his presidential campaign to term
— Santiago Mayer (@santiagomayer_) January 21, 2024
it's not just that DeSantis was easy to bully, but also that he was fun to bully. you really got the sense that he went home and wept every night.
— JP (@jpbrammer) January 22, 2024
can’t stop thinking about how ron desantis basically had it all handed to him on a silver platter and all he had to do was not be a weird little gremlin
— soul nate (@MNateShyamalan) January 22, 2024
He drops out on twitter, doesn’t have the class and grace to do it in front of his supporters who worked hard for him, uses a fake Churchill quote, then kisses Trump’s ring 6 days after ridiculing people who kiss Trump’s ring.
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 21, 2024
ron desantis spent like $200M and all he accomplished was broadcasting to the whole world that he wears high heels inside his boots and eats pudding with his fingers
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) January 21, 2024
https://t.co/AyvcvhYsGi pic.twitter.com/M0v8AqeKAH
— Dark Brandon (@VoteDarkBrandon) January 21, 2024
DeSantis will never admit it, but his campaign was over the second this photo dropped. pic.twitter.com/H8HVWe1bae
— New Liberals 🌐🇺🇦 (@CNLiberalism) January 21, 2024
Ron DeSantis the minute he dropped out of the presidential race: pic.twitter.com/dQqmtjEp29
— eric (@MrEAnders) January 22, 2024
Boots will be worn at half-calf tonight pic.twitter.com/qC2KELrYUF
— Keith (@nagy_minaj) January 21, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.