Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump.
He quit ahead of the Republican primary election in New Hampshire, where he was polling in the single digits.
Mr DeSantis was once considered a strong contender for the party’s nomination – but on Sunday he said he did not “have a clear path to victory”.
Nikki Haley, Mr Trump’s last remaining challenger, said she was the “only one” able to beat US President Joe Biden.
Ms Haley will go head-to-head with Mr Trump in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the second in a series of state-by-state contests to pick a Republican nominee for the November general election.
In a nearly five-minute long video on X, formerly Twitter, released on Sunday afternoon, Mr DeSantis said his campaign had “left it all out on the field”.
“If there was anything I could do to produce a favourable outcome – more campaign stops, more interviews – I would do it,” he added, as he ended his seven-month campaign.
The Florida governor said he was endorsing Mr Trump, who is the clear frontrunner after winning the first contest in Iowa with 51% of the vote. Mr DeSantis said it had become clear that a majority of Republican voters “want to give Donald Trump another chance”.
He acknowledged “disagreements” with the former president, but said Mr Trump was “superior” to Mr Biden, who is almost certain to be the Democratic nominee in November’s general election.
“I signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, and I will honour that pledge,” Mr DeSantis said.
There were loud cheers when Mr Trump made his first comments about Mr DeSantis’s withdrawal and endorsement to a room in New Hampshire full of supporters on Sunday afternoon.
Later, addressing an audience at a rally, Mr Trump described his former opponent as a “really terrific person”, adding: “He ran a really good campaign, it’s not easy.
“Mr DeSantis had presented himself as the Republican candidate who could deliver Mr Trump’s populist agenda without the drama or baggage.
But one of the speakers at the event, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, referred to him as “diet Trump”. And several supporters of Mr Trump told the BBC they liked the Florida governor but felt this was not the right time for him.
Lynne Mason, 60, said she thought Mr DeSantis’s campaign was “a little weak” and she had “expected more from him”. Mr Trump, she added, was the “only person at this time who can save this country”.
BethAnne Tatro, another local backing Mr Trump, agreed. “I think that President Trump has proven, from being in office previously, that he can do this again and get things back on track.”
