You knew something was up Saturday evening when Republican presidential nominee Ron DeSantis canceled interviews set for Sunday morning on NBC (“Meet the Press”) and CNN (“State of the Union”). Then Sunday, the Florida governor made it official: He dropped out of the race and said he was throwing his support behind Donald Trump.

Just last week, at a campaign event, DeSantis said, “You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, (Trump) will say you are wonderful. You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you don’t kiss that ring then he’ll try to trash you. You know what? You deserve a nominee that is going to put you first, not himself first.”

Well, that’s a different tune than what DeSantis said Sunday when he endorsed Trump. As The New York Times’ Michael C. Bender wrote, “DeSantis’s endorsement of Trump was as quick as it was clumsy. He offered no rationale for the decision other than the former president had support from most Republicans in the polls — and that he wasn’t Nikki Haley.”

As far as dropping out now, DeSantis said in a video posted on social media, “I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory.”

For an excellent recap, check out NBC News’ Matt Dixon, Dasha Burns, Allan Smith and Abigail Brooks with “‘A total failure to launch’: Why Ron DeSantis was doomed from the start.”

The NBC News team wrote, “… in the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle.

In the headquarters of Never Back Down in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wagner was, according to some of his staff, spending a significant amount of time in the precious final few days constructing a peaceful 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape.”

The story even ran a photo of Wagner doing the puzzle.

NBC News wrote, “The fact that one of the top people in charge of securing a win for DeSantis in Iowa was spending time on something unrelated to the caucuses was emblematic of the mismanagement and wasted efforts that many of DeSantis’ own supporters say have plagued the campaign from the very beginning.”

For the record, Wagner told NBC News that it was an “office puzzle” that was “there when we arrived.” He added that the puzzle “became a sense of pride for the entire team and everyone chipped in a few minutes a piece to get it done.”

For more, check out PolitiFact’s Maria Ramirez Uribe and Amy Sherman with “DeSantis drops out of 2024 presidential race, Haley and Trump continue their battle in New Hampshire.”

One final thought: maybe DeSantis’ campaign was doomed from the start. Remember when his announcement that he was running for president on Twitter turned into a mess?

Interesting tweet

Media reporter Brian Stelter had an interesting tweet: “Unknowable: Would DeSantis have had a better shot if Tucker Carlson had remained on Fox? DeSantis thought he’d won the ‘Tucker primary’ and wanted to formally launch his campaign on Tucker’s 8pm show. But then it was canceled. DeSantis tried Twitter Spaces instead. De-saster.”

Now what?

The Republican field for president is now down to Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who said, “It’s now one fella and one lady left.” The first primary of the year will be held Tuesday in New Hampshire.

Appearing on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who is endorsing Haley, said Tuesday is not a “make or break” day for Haley.

Sununu told moderator Kristen Welker, “She doesn’t have to win. I mean, look, nobody goes from single digits in December to ‘you absolutely have to win’ in January. I think that’s a media expectation that’s being set out there. The fact that it can happen at all, right? Trump said he was going to run the table and win all 50 states. And everyone said, ‘Yep, it’s a done deal.’ It’s not a done deal. She’s challenging him here, and now she, again, gets to go to her home state where she’s won a lot before, she knows how to do it on the ground. And people don’t realize that South Carolina isn’t next week. It’s three or four weeks away, and Nikki’s going to have a lot of time to build on the momentum she’s already created.”

NH paper endorses Haley

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Sunday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

The New Hampshire Union Leader endorsed Haley in the primary.

The editorial board wrote, “She is catching fire for good reason. She is a smart, thoughtful, experienced candidate who is ready to be the next president of these great United States. She is easily the most qualified candidate on either ballot.”

The board also seemed to take digs at both Trump and President Joe Biden, writing, “Of course, we can’t talk about Nikki Haley without addressing the elephant in the room and the rather old donkey hiding in the White House. Nikki Haley is an opportunity to vote for a candidate rather than against those two. A candidate who can run circles around the dinosaurs from the last two administrations, backwards and in heels.

The latest CNN poll has Trump holding a 50-39 advantage over Haley in New Hampshire.

An uncertain future

Sports Illustrated — the gold standard of sports journalism for some 70 years — might be done for good.

The demise of one of America’s great magazines has been slowly going on for the past several years, but then late last week, this stunner: The Arena Group, which runs Sports Illustrated, sent an email to staff saying, “we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”

The reason? Well, it’s a bit confusing. Front Office Sports’ A.J. Perez wrote, “Authentic, the licensing group that purchased Sports Illustrated for $110 million from Meredith five years ago, has terminated the agreement it holds with The Arena Group to publish SI in print and digital, according to an email obtained by Front Office Sports. That move comes three weeks after Arena missed a $3.75 million payment that breached the company’s SI licensing deal, which began in 2019. (Authentic’s notice of termination, meanwhile, triggered a $45 million fee due immediately to Authentic, according to an SEC filing on Friday.)”

The Sports Illustrated Union put out a statement saying, “This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship. We are calling on ABG to ensure the continued publication of SI and allow it to serve our audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.”

Perez wrote, “It’s unclear whether Authentic will indeed pursue the path of establishing a new operator or will now allow Arena to renegotiate its current deal. Sources tell FOS, though, that Authentic’s goal is to move the process along as quickly as possible. One way or another, says one insider, ‘Authentic will see Sports Illustrated through a necessary evolution.’ Authentic echoed that sentiment in a statement late Friday, saying: ‘We are committed to ensuring that the traditional ad supported Sports Illustrated media pillar has best in class stewardship to preserve the complete integrity of the brand’s legacy.’”

In other words, this still might take some time to sort itself out. Either way, Sports Illustrated, through no fault of many of the talented sports journalists who work there, is a shadow of what it used to be.

The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis wrote, “I have two bigger thoughts here. First, as awful it may sound, SI is probably fated to suffer another semi-death. Or maybe several. ‘We expect that the great institution of Sports Illustrated will continue, survive, and grow,’ Axios reported one company saying. The company is Bridge Media, ‘the subsidiary of the group that is planned to merge with Arena.’ If you can follow all that, again, you’re a better media critic than I am.

“Second, I ask anyone writing a tribute to SI to sever Friday’s atrocities from the magazine’s distant past. The employees who just lost their jobs under the Arena Group’s stewardship didn’t avail themselves of the Time Life drinks cart. They didn’t run quotes for Dan Jenkins. The fact that an entity known as Sports Illustrated has a long and lustrous history doesn’t make their predicament better or worse. ‘Storied’ is just a word you use in a magazine’s obituary. Again.”

More to come on this story.

Media tidbits

• Puck’s Dylan Byers tweeted Sunday that the Trump campaign has banned NBC News correspondent Vaughn Hillyard from “traveling with the former president … in retribution for a recent interview in which Hillyard had pressed (New York Republican) Rep. (Elise) Stefanik to comment on E. Jean Carroll accusations against Trump.”
• The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona with “Tiffany Cross Puts MSNBC on Blast: I Drew the ‘Ire of White Conservatives.’”
• Axios’ Tim Baysinger with “ESPN eyes messy solution to streaming puzzle.”
• Saturday night’s NFL playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers on Fox drew 37.5 million viewers and was the most-watched Saturday telecast on any network since 40.9 million tuned in to watch the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Hot type

• The New York Times’ Nicholas Confessore with “‘America Is Under Attack’: Inside the Anti-D.E.I. Crusade.”
• Outstanding reporting, writing, design, graphics, photos and video: The Washington Post’s Les Carpenter with “The Paris Olympics’ Seine River plan is bold, audacious … and risky.”

More resources for journalists

• The 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes are now open for entries. To enter, go to the contest website. The deadline for entries is Feb. 16.
• Empower your storytelling skills with Beat Academy 2024 (Webinar series) — Feb. 1-Sept. 26. Enroll now.
• Lead with Influence 2024 (Seminar) — Apply by Jan. 23, for the February training. Also,  offered in June and Oct. 2024.
• Transforming Local Crime Reporting Into Public Safety Journalism (Seminar) — Apply by Jan. 30.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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