Farewell to Ron DeSantis, an awkward bully nobody liked. Even Republicans.

While Republican voters in New Hampshire head to the polls to choose between Donald Trump, R-The Literal Worst, and Nikki Haley, R-Meh, Ron DeSantis is heading home to Florida to feel deeply embarrassed.

That’s exactly what the governor – an unlikable bully from the jump – deserves after ending one of the most laughably inept presidential runs in history.

DeSantis bowed out of the GOP presidential primary race Sunday, and I can merrily say with 1,000% confidence he will never, ever, ever be president of the United States. His national reputation is garbage. His awkward smile, incessant lip-licking and robotic behavior have been mercilessly mocked in a multitude of memes. And his clumsily cruel battle against “wokeness” was revealed as a cynical ploy, an effort to climb to the presidential nomination on the backs of vulnerable kids and thoughtful school teachers.

Let’s check the scoreboard: Wokeness 1, DeSantis 0.

It couldn’t have happened to a bigger jerk.

Ron DeSantis stepped all over vulnerable people in his political rise

What, you want me to take the high road? With this guy?

The guy who has made life hell for LGBTQ+ kids in the state he governs? The guy who bent over backwards to make sure his state’s schools are teaching the most white-centric version of American history possible?

The guy whose anti-vaccine rhetoric and faux-tough-guy opportunism with COVID-19 policies likely cost thousands of Floridians their lives?

The guy who snarled at school kids who stood behind him at an event during the pandemic because they were responsibly wearing face masks?

Bullying liberals and embracing the worst instincts of the far right was all DeSantis had

The guy who took an excellent state liberal-arts university, New College, and handed it over to a bunch of right-wing goons so they could make it less diverse, less inclusive and more conservative?

How Haley can beat Trump: With DeSantis gone, 5 ways Haley can hit Trump hard in New Hampshire

The guy who ridiculously picked a fight with Disney – one of Florida’s largest employers – because the company had the temerity to speak out against his useless and draconian “Don’t Say Gay” law? (If the folks at Disney had a sense of humor, they’d immediately announce a new Pixar film titled “LOL!”)

The guy who helped elevate a rabid right-wing group like Moms for Liberty and bolstered ridiculous parents who decided getting books banned and disrupting school board meetings was a fun hobby?

It's a joy to see DeSantis fail, and I won't apologize for that

No, DeSantis’ fall from right-wing grace and the collapse of his horribly run presidential campaign is something to be celebrated. This is a political grave I will gladly dance on – I just hope there’s room.

Through his words and policies, DeSantis has hurt people. He has made the lives of transgender children in his state markedly harder. He has fostered an environment that has forced families of LGBTQ+ kids to flee the state, sowed confusion in schools, and made gay and lesbian teachers wonder if having a photo of their spouse on the desk might get them fired.

He has said that some Black people benefited from slavery, barred Florida students from taking an AP African American studies class, and banned state and federal funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state colleges and universities.

He made his state so weird – and it’s Florida, so making it weirder was no easy trick – that some schools are pulling dictionaries and encyclopedias from library shelves lest children be exposed to ... words?

Only a fool would think he could out-mean Donald Trump

DeSantis used my home state of Florida as a laboratory, hoping he could experiment with right-wing kookiness and unravel a formula for political success in a party dominated by Trumpian meanness. But the governor’s hypothesis was flawed from the jump: The cruelty the MAGA Republican base has grown addicted to starts and ends with one man.

Trump peddles the political equivalent of pure Afghan kush while DeSantis was hocking Ziploc bags of oregano.

DeSantis exists the race: DeSantis once promised Republicans a true alternative to Trump. Now he just bends the knee.

Millions of wasted GOP donor dollars later, Americans can see in DeSantis what many of us who were paying attention to him before his presidential run saw: He’s derpy. He’s uncharismatic. He’s mean. And the more you see of him, the less there is to like.

The governor – who was hailed by many conservatives as a political savior – will now return to Florida to finish out his term, diminished in the eyes of most. His campaign will be remembered as a joke, from its bungled launch alongside Elon Musk on the site formerly known as Twitter, to its deeply weird and offensive anti-LGBTQ+ campaign ad riddled with ripped, shirtless dudes that even some Republicans called homophobic.

Now DeSantis' political career is in ruins, and it's entirely his fault

He has already kissed the tail of Trump, the man who mocked him brutally and relentlessly. That should give DeSantis a sense of what it feels like to be bullied by a powerful figure, to be made to feel less than you are.

But I doubt the Florida governor has the emotional intelligence to recognize the harm he has done or reflect on the damage left in the wake of his political ambitions.

As he settles into life as a laughable historical footnote, maybe he’ll at least ponder the karmic forces around us. And understand why they rightly and soundly kicked him square in the ass.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis ends feeble presidential campaign in shame before NH. Good