2024 presidential front-runner and former President Donald Trump's impressive win in Saturday's South Carolina Republican presidential primary has been turning heads, after he beat the state's former governor, Nikki Haley, by over 20 points.
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It also appears to be turning heads among congressional Republican leadership. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), the second-highest-ranking GOP member in the Upper Chamber, announced on Sunday that he is endorsing Trump for 2024. In a statement, he said:
The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden.
I support former President Trump’s campaign to win the presidency, and I intend to do everything I can to see that he has a Republican majority in the Senate working with him to restore American strength at home and abroad.
Thune added that his support for the former president was prompted by the specter of “another four years of Bidenomics" ravaging the country, caused by the ongoing “disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda,” among other reasons.
With the endorsement, Thune now becomes the highest-ranking GOP leader in the Senate to endorse the former president, in the wake of Trump's decisive defeat of Haley in her home state. Up to this point, Thune had endorsed Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) in the primary.
Although Trump has garnered a slew of prominent Republican endorsements, including from former primary foes like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Sen. Scott, a few dominoes remain to fall among leadership:
Thune’s office confirmed to the Washington Examiner he is endorsing the former president on Sunday, making Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) the remaining holdouts in Senate GOP leadership.
It's possible that Ernst will come around before long, though. She stated in January that she was mulling the possibility of endorsing Trump.