Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is taking aim at his former primary rival for declining to immediately endorse former President Donald Trump.
During an interview on Newsmax, DeSantis was asked about former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s decision to leave the race without throwing her support behind Trump.
“I signed the pledge and you sign the pledge saying that you’re gonna not take your ball and go home, and so I honored the pledge and she’s gonna have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not,” he said.
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 gotta make a judgement about whether that’s meaningful to you.”
“For me, I tell people, you know, if I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it,” he added.
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During the first primary debate in August, Haley was one of the candidates who vowed to support Trump even if he was convicted of a crime.
However, she recently began to offer less firm and clearly answers on the matter.
During an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” last month, Haley was asked if she would support Trump in the general election and declined to answer, but suggested, “You can ask him if he’s going to support me when I’m the nominee.”
And earlier this week, she told NBC News’ “Meet The Press” she believes the Republican National Committee is “now not the same RNC,” and suggested she is not bound to follow the pledge she took.
After she dropped out, Haley also did not endorse the former president. Instead, she said, “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.”
“At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing,” she added.
By contrast, DeSantis dropped out of the race in January, saying, “[Trump] has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form or warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”