Leaders of the GOP House and Senate congressional campaign arms declared former President Donald Trump the party’s “presumptive nominee” without waiting for Tuesday night’s results from the first Republican primary in New Hampshire.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson of North Carolina and National Republican Senate Committee Chairman Steve Daines of Montana stated on X Sunday, the day Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential primary, that it was time for Republicans to all support Mr. Trump.
Mr. DeSantis immediately endorsed Mr. Trump over former U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley following his withdrawal from the race. Both GOP lawmakers released statements after that.
“Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee. I am encouraging every Republican to unite behind him because it will take all of us to defeat Joe Biden, take back the Senate, and hold the House,” Mr. Daines said.
Mr. Hudson wrote on X, “Iowa sent a strong signal that Republican voters want the party to unify behind Donald Trump. He is the presumptive nominee. It is time to come together, kick Joe Biden out of office, and get our country back on track.”
Following Mr. Trump’s Iowa caucus win and Mr. DeSantis’s endorsement, other GOP lawmakers weighed in with endorsements, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Reps. Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Katie Britt of Alabama, Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Roger Marshall of Kansas.
Mr. Trump also picked up the endorsement of several of his former primary opponents including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
Top Republicans in Congress who have not endorsed Mr. Trump since his Iowa win and Mr. DeSantis’ withdrawal are not many, but they include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who previously endorsed Mr. Scott.
Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Chip Roy of Texas, backers of Mr. DeSantis’ campaign, have also not made new endorsements yet.
Ms. Haley has vowed to stay in the race regardless of the primary results in New Hampshire and plans to move on to compete in her home-state South Carolina primary.
Despite recent polls showing Mr. Trump with a double-digit lead ahead of her in New Hampshire, the former South Carolina governor said, “America doesn’t do coronations — we believe in choices.”
She added, “We believe in democracy, and we believe in freedom. I have said I love the live-free-or-die state, but you know what? I want to make it a live-free-or-die-country.”
Ms. Haley is supported by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and former Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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