Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper), Ron DeSantis, one of the main rivals of Donald Trump, has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and started to publicly support Trump’s candidacy. 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’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,”.
Ron DeSantis was a candidate from the Republican Party and potentially one of the representatives, who was able to defeat Donald Trump. However, the decision to withdraw came a few days before the New Hampshire primary, where due to the polls he would be far behind front-runner Trump and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
Ron DeSantis is also controversial in his political views, which is one of the reasons for his not-great popularity in the US. In his domestic policy, he opposes abortion and the restrictions to abortion laws. DeSantis is a great advocate of the death penalty and implementation of medical marijuana, at the same time restricting access to medical cannabis for veterans. Except for the above, the Florida governor opposes the Affordable Health Care Act and federal education programs, such as the “No Child Left Behind Act” and “Race to the Top”, programs that are measured to improve individual outcomes in education and its quality. He is known for backing the abolition of gun control policies and anti-Muslim organizations.
With Ron DeSantis out of the race, the only rival of Donald Trump from his party is Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley is the first woman of Indian origin, who was serving as a governor of South Carolina and the second Indian American governor ever. Surprisingly, in the 2016 US presidential elections, he voted for Donald Trump and later explained her decision as “It has been embarrassing for both parties. It’s not something that the country deserves, but it’s what we’ve got.” After Donald Trump’s nomination for the presidential post, she was appointed by him as an ambassador to the United Nations. Furthermore, in one of the interviews about Trump’s term in office she said: “On his policy, I agree with everything that he’s done”, except the question on the family separation at the US-Mexico border.
Despite her statement after Ron DeSantis’s withdrawal: “It’s now one fella and one lady left. May the best woman win.”, it is unlikely that she will take the majority of votes. Donald Trump is overrunning her greatly and as elections are closer, he is becoming more and more popular. “You may not like him, you may not like his attitude, you may not like his personality, but you got to trust his heart. This man puts America first and that’s what I’m voting for.”- said one of Trump’s supporters.
Presidential election polls in 2024 show that Donald Trump is leading with 46% of support against 42% for Joe Biden. Currently, the Republican Party has 235 electoral votes to 226 of the Democratic Party. To win, at least 270 electoral votes are needed, which means that Republicans are 35 electoral votes from victory.
March 5, 2024, known as Super Tuesday, is an important day for both Republicans and Democrats. It’s a US presidential primary election day when the majority of US states are holding primary elections and caucuses (meetings of supporters of the political party). Super Tuesday results indicate a potential nominee of the political party.
Another essential point is swing votes. Swing votes are just a small amount of the electorate, but they can change the election results. The reason for this is that the Electoral College gives more sway to smaller states. Every state receives at least 3 electors regardless of its population. Wyoming, for instance, with a population of around 580,000 people has 3 electoral votes, which means that each elector represents 193,000 people. However, California with a population of around 39 mln people has only 54 electoral votes, which means that each elector represents 723,000 people.
Another issue is the political campaign of both parties. Joe Biden’s administration as well as the Democratic Party itself is blamed for not being able to handle 2 wars that it is currently taking part in and, at that point, Donald Trump’s promise to end US engagement in the conflicts is gathering more and more sympathizers. The reason for that is not only greater polarization in American society but the accelerating internal crisis in the United States. Increasing crime rate, expanding illegal migration, skyrocketing foreign debt as well a high-remaining inflation rate. American citizens are seeking change, so there is no surprise that Donald Trump, with his promises of golden mountains and solutions to all problems, enjoys his growing popularity.
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