Ron DeSantis won’t get any help from Nevada’s Governor, who is now endorsing Donald Trump

Gov. Ron DeSantis has complained about Nevada’s presidential selection process, and his gripes are likely to continue, given that the state’s Governor is backing Donald Trump.

“We need President Trump’s decisive leadership back in Washington, D.C. President Trump oversaw record economic success, implemented strong foreign policy, and ensured our law enforcement officers are treated with the respect they deserve,” said Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Lombardo’s endorsement comes less than a day after Trump claimed DeSantis wasn’t even running in Nevada’s Feb. 8 contest, an allegation called “fake news” by DeSantis’ campaign.

“I hear that we’re up 100 points because (DeSantis) has just dropped out of the race, and he’s the only one that tried to challenge us, and he just dropped out of the race. He just announced they’re dropping out.”

“Well, wait a minute, you might have missed,” Trump added. “I meant when I say he dropped out of the race, he dropped out of the race in Nevada.”

Even though Trump was just stirring drama, there is no apparent path for DeSantis in Nevada.

A recent Emerson College Poll of Nevada Republicans found the Florida Governor 65 points behind Donald Trump’s 73%. DeSantis’ 8% tied him with “undecided” for second place, and put him 2 points ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy and 4 points ahead of Chris Christie. Both of them have dropped out of the 2024 race.

Emerson’s poll is actually showing a bigger lead than a Trump internal survey. Per a McLaughlin and Associates poll from December, Trump was at 75% with 15% for DeSantis overall. However, Trump’s lead with the most committed voters was 84% to 9%.

DeSantis previously has claimed the Nevada Republican Party is “basically trying to rig it for Trump,” and that’s why “the delegates are going to be done on the caucus.”