Ron DeSantis in South Carolina: ‘No Question’ Donald Trump Will Have Massive Victory over Nikki Haley

Former Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said there is “no question” that former President Donald Trump will have a massive victory over Nikki Haley in South Carolina, making the remarks in the Palmetto State on Tuesday.

Florida Gov. DeSantis, who dropped out of the presidential race in January, took questions on the state of the race following his remarks at the South Carolina State House Senate Chamber, where he pushed his greater agenda of instilling Congressional term limits.

“If you have a path, you have every right to be running,” DeSantis told reporters, explaining that he never said certain people should not run “even though there were a lot of people [at] one percent.”

“But if the path isn’t there, then I think: At what point is the purpose of this? And I think that would actually just be how everyone looks at it,” he began before knocking Haley’s strategy of attracting non-conservative voters in open primary states.

“What I didn’t understand about Nikki — and I still don’t understand it today — is we have a voter base in the Republican Party. And I think if you look at the Iowa results, it’s a good example,” DeSantis said.

“Eighty-five percent of the registered Republicans voted for either Trump or me, effectively…so that’s just a big conservative base, right? To try to appeal to people who aren’t a part of that base for a primary — I just didn’t understand that,” the governor said, explaining that the strategy simply will not work.

“It was clear to me after…Iowa that she just didn’t have support amongst Republicans, and I’ve never seen anyone win a Republican nomination by focusing on non-Republican voters. It just doesn’t work,” he continued.

WATCH — Trump Takes Iowa! Donald Thanks Packed Room of Supporters After Historic Win

Margo Martin via Storyful

“And so that was why after Iowa — and I took it, you know, four or five days to analyze all the data, look at the path forward — I didn’t make a flippant decision, but I looked at it,” DeSantis said about his decision to drop out of the race.

He then predicted South Carolina’s results, saying, “There’s no question that South Carolina is going to be a big victory for Donald Trump because he appeals to core Republicans in a way that Nikki Haley just does not or is not trying to,” DeSantis added.

DeSantis made it clear when he dropped out of the race that he was not backing Haley but Trump:

He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear — a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism — that Nikki Haley represents. The days of putting Americans last, of kowtowing to large corporations, of caving to woke ideology, are over.

WATCH: Ron DeSantis Drops Out of GOP Primary, Endorses Trump

Ron DeSantis / Twitter

While Trump is leading Haley in poll after poll — particularly in South Carolina — Haley defended her decision to remain in the race, clarifying on Tuesday that she is not going anywhere.

“South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president,” she said in Greenville, emphasizing she is “not going anywhere” and comparing herself to the Biblical great David.

“Because the only way you get to the blessing is by going through the pain. Dropping out would be the easy route. I’ve never taken the easy route. I’ve been the underdog in every race…I’ve always been David taking on Goliath,” Haley proclaimed.

“And like David, I’m not just fighting someone bigger than me. I’m fighting for something bigger than myself,” she added.