Ron DeSantis bows out of presidential campaign with fake Churchill quote

By Seana Davis

(Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his presidential bid on Sunday when he announced on social media his withdrawal with a quote falsely attributed to Winston Churchill.

During a four-minute video address posted on X the Republican governor incorrectly attributed a quote to Churchill: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

The International Churchill Society previously wrote that the quote is commonly misattributed to the former British prime minister. The Churchill Project at Hillsdale College included the phrase as one of several fabricated Churchill quotes.

A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Spencer Jones, a senior lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, said there is no evidence that Churchill ever used the phrase, adding that it is "frequently shared as an inspirational quote on social media."

Kevin Ruane, a professor at Canterbury Christ Church University who authored a book on Churchill, said, "Churchill was an incredible wordsmith, and forged so many memorable phrases over a long career, but he's also probably had as many invented quotes attached to him as he created himself."

"However you frame it, Governor DeSantis made his final bow with a blooper," he said.

(Reporting by Seana Davis; editing by Jonathan Oatis)