Former President Donald Trump is telling supporters in New Hampshire that Ron DeSantis is abandoning early caucuses in Nevada.
DeSantis hasn't announced that move, and it's unclear why Trump said the Florida Governor was out of the race in that state. We have reached out to Team DeSantis for comment.
"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."
Trump said he was glad he caught it "because the applause was a little strong" and that if he hadn't, the "fake news would have been four days early."
Whether or not Trump was breaking news or just stirring drama, there is no 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 puts him 2 points ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy and 4 points ahead of Chris Christie. Both of them are 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 is 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."
This is a developing story and we will update upon hearing from the DeSantis camp.
