Trump is raking in endorsements in the final hours before New Hampshire votes
Former President Donald J. Trump has received an outpouring of support during the latest countdown to the New Hampshire primary, while his allies say the 2024 Republican nominating contest is all but over.
After Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida endorsed Mr. Trump in his announcement Sunday that he was leaving the race, some of his former supporters, including Representative Bob Good of Virginia and Ashley Moody, Florida's attorney general, followed suit.
Also included was Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, the only member of the congressional delegation who had not yet endorsed the bill supported Mr. Trump – making him the seventh of the state's eight Republican members of Congress to do so. Only one, Rep. Ralph Norman, has endorsed Nikki Haley, the state's former governor and Trump's last remaining rival.
Additional expressions of support for Mr. Trump poured in Monday from Republicans, from statehouses to Congress. In Georgia, the agriculture commissioner and almost half of the Republican Senate delegation announced their expressions of support from Mr. Trump on Monday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Mr. Trump's previous supporters have used Mr. DeSantis' departure from the race to declare Mr. Trump the “presumptive nominee,” although only Iowa has voted so far. Trump already has the support of President Mike Johnson and the majority of Republicans in Congress. After Trump's 30-point victory in Iowa, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas joined the list of donors.
Three of Trump's former rivals for the presidency in 2024: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina; Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota; and Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur – are also behind him. In a final show of unity among the rest of the Republican field, all three of these men will appear alongside Mr. Trump at a rally in Laconia, N.H., on Monday evening, according to Trump campaign officials.
Some of the recent expressions of support have doubled as betrayals of Ms. Haley. Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, backed by Ms. Haley last year as she fought a Trump-backed primary challenger who wanted to remove her from Congress, announced Monday that she would support Mr. Trump. Mr. Scott is from Ms. Haley's home state — and she appointed him to the Senate when she was the state's governor in 2012. (Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who endorsed Ms. Haley for president in 2016, soon after endorsed Mr. Trump before the Iowa caucuses.)
By comparison, Ms. Haley is endorsed by Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas — all politicians who represent the party's more traditionally conservative wing. Former Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, who led the most fervent anti-Trump campaign and was once seen as a potential supporter of Ms Haley, appears to have no plans to endorse in the race.
Ms. Haley, who has long portrayed herself as “underrated” in her political career, is using the outpouring of support from Trump to position herself as the political outsider, something once seen as attractive about Trump. In Franklin, N.H., on Monday, she cast herself as prepared to take on the political establishment that now sides with Mr. Trump, and the news media that she said wrongly portrayed his victory as inevitable.
“America doesn't do coronations — we believe in choices,” Ms. Haley said. “We believe in democracy and we believe in freedom. I've said I love the live-free-or-die state, but you know what? I want to make it a live-or-die country.”
Few among the top Republicans support Mr. Trump. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, has yet to endorse a nominee. That includes Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the second Republican in the Senate who previously supported Mr. Scott.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas and Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, two of the few members of Congress who supported Mr. DeSantis' bid, also have not rushed to Mr. Trump's side.
Jasmine Ulloa And Michael Gold reporting contributed.