Inside the final hours of Ron DeSantis' ill-fated campaign
On Sunday morning, Ron DeSantis summoned several of his closest advisers to the Florida governor's mansion for the conversations that would end his campaign.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — On Sunday morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis summoned several of his closest advisers to the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee for a final conversation about his presidential campaign's future, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
Then, DeSantis and his wife, Casey, left the advisers to have a private conversation in the upstairs residence. They decided he would pull the plug on a campaign that had no reasonable path forward. By the time they returned to the advisers, DeSantis had written down lines that would form part of the announcement that he was suspending the campaign.
The discussions at the Governor's Mansion were the culmination of nearly a week of conversations between DeSantis and his advisers that began last Monday night, shortly after he placed a distant second to former President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10, 2024. Christian Monterrosa / AFP - Getty ImagesRep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, one of DeSantis' most prominent backers, traveled to Tallahassee for the final round of discussions, helping DeSantis weigh the merits of exiting the race before the New Hampshire primary and the pros and cons of endorsing Trump, according to people familiar with his role.
Reached by phone Sunday night, Roy said he has been "continuously talking to the governor" during the campaign and thinks "he took the right step" in cutting the campaign short and endorsing Trump. He declined to detail his conversations with DeSantis.
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