The second-highest-ranked Republican in the Senate on Sunday endorsed former President Donald Trump after he secured a GOP primary win in South Carolina, further imperiling rival Republican candidate Nikki Haley’s election chances.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told multiple news outlets Sunday that he will back the 45th president. Previously, he endorsed Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) campaign before he dropped out several months ago. President Trump recently mentioned that Mr. Scott is on his shortlist of potential vice presidents.
Mr. Thune then said that he backs 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.”
The senator said that Republicans should side with President Trump to “put an end to the disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda,” adding that the United States “cannot endure another four years of Bidenomics, continued lawlessness at our southern border, and American weakness on the global stage.”
So far, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are the only two Republicans in the Senate leadership who haven’t publicly backed President Trump.
The former president, meanwhile, has not responded to Mr. Thune’s endorsement Sunday.
Election Status
During Saturday’s primary, President Trump received about 60 percent of the vote, while Ms. Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, obtained about 40 percent. President Trump received 47 delegates, while Ms. Haley got three.“I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now,” President Trump also said during a Saturday celebration in Columbia, South Carolina.
But Ms. Haley, also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, insisted over the weekend she will stick around despite escalating pressure to withdraw her candidacy to allow President Trump and the GOP to focus on President Joe Biden.
Reports have indicated that she will attend a rally in several places in Michigan this week. And earlier, she vowed to keep her campaign afloat through at least the batch of primaries on March 5, known as Super Tuesday.
After the loss on Saturday, the director for the “No Labels” political group, Joe Cunningham, told Fox News that his organization would be open to tapping Ms. Haley to a third-party bid.
But the Haley campaign told The Hill on Sunday that she’s not interested and wants to remain a Republican.
Last week, Ms. Haley also explained her reasoning to Fox News, saying she is a “Republican option that people can realize when you see Donald Trump can’t win, and you know that we have to turn this country around, then I am your alternative.”