With less than two weeks out from the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, congressional Republicans are already lining up to offer their endorsements of Donald Trump.
That includes House majority whip Tom Emmer, who this week threw his support behind the former president, despite their acrimonious recent history. “Democrats have made clear they will use every tool in their arsenal to try and keep Joe Biden and his failed policies in power,” the third-ranking House Republican wrote Wednesday over X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “We cannot let them. It’s time for Republicans to unite behind our party’s clear front-runner.” His endorsement comes almost three months after Trump proudly “killed” Emmer’s bid for the House Speakership, maligning the Minnesota lawmaker as a “Globalist RINO” over social media.
This animosity, in part, likely stemmed from Emmer’s refusal to vote against certifying the 2020 Electoral College results. Whatever the cause, Trump’s attacks helped lead to the desired outcome: Emmer eventually withdrew his name for the position, paving the way for the successful nomination of Trump loyalist Mike Johnson.
Less than 24 hours before Emmer’s endorsement, House majority leader Steve Scalise also announced his backing of Trump. “In this race, there is one man who has a proven track record of being able to save our country and get us back on track: Donald Trump,” he said in a statement to Fox News. (As in Emmer’s case, Scalise’s Speakership bid failed to earn Trump’s endorsement.)
With endorsements from Emmer and Scalise, Trump has now gained the backing of all five members of the House Republican leadership. Johnson endorsed Trump in November, shortly after he helped him secure the Speaker’s gavel. Johnson endorsed Trump in November, shortly after he helped him secure the Speaker’s gavel. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference, and Gary Palmer, chair of the Republican Policy Committee, have both endorsed Trump.
On the Senate side, Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, made his endorsement of Trump official on Wednesday. “I look forward to working with him to win back the White House and the Senate so we can help hardworking Arkansans suffering from Joe Biden’s disastrous policies,” Cotton told Fox News. He is the 19th Senate Republican to have endorsed Trump. (Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, Trump’s feeble top competitors for the party nomination, have not earned a single Senate endorsement and have only a handful of House backers between them.)
The timing of the recent endorsement wave is critical. Hoping to portray the primary contest as a foregone conclusion—which, barring legal or medical catastrophe, it very well could be—Trump has recently been working to nab support from a number of tentative Republicans. Politico reported Tuesday that he has been pressuring still-undecided GOP senators; the outlet also noted that, in the past, Trump made threatening innuendos about their reelection chances. For instance, Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican up for reelection this year, made clear his endorsement not long after Trump publicly warned him to “be very careful” about holding onto his seat. Trump issued the same threat against Ted Cruz, but, according to Politico, the Texas Republican maintains that he will only provide an endorsement after the party chooses its nominee.
Caleb Ecarma
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