Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Nashua, New Hampshire, on 19 January 2024. DeSantis dropped out of the primary race on Sunday. (Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images) “That name is officially retired,” Trump said during a stop at his New Hampshire state headquarters on Sunday.
Trump used the insult often against DeSantis while the two battled for the Republican nomination.
DeSantis on Sunday said he was dropping out of the race and offered his support to Trump, just two days before the New Hampshire primary. Polls had shown DeSantis, who entered the race widely seen as an electable alternative to Trump, trailing the frontrunner and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley badly in New Hampshire. He came in second in the Iowa caucuses last week.
Earlier: DeSantis Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race, Endorses Trump
Trump has increasingly turned his focus on Haley, who is now his only remaining major rival for the GOP nomination.
Trump has called Haley “Birdbrain” and shortened her Indian birth name of Nimarata to “Nimrada,” resurfacing false conspiracy theories that she is ineligible to be president because of her immigrant parents. Haley was born in South Carolina.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com