Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a top Senate Republican, has endorsed former President Donald Trump’s third White House bid.
“The country was much better off under President Donald Trump,” said Mr. Barrasso, the chairman of the Senate GOP conference, on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News on Jan. 9. “And Joe Biden continues to fail America.”
Mr. Barrasso, the third-ranked Republican senator, lamented the high gas prices, the crisis at the southern border, and energy policy under President Joe Biden.
“This is a disaster. We cannot afford another four years of Joe Biden’s failures,” he said.
“So if you want to get the country back on track, which is what I want to do, we need a strong Republican conservative House and Senate,” continued Mr. Barrasso. “And we need Donald Trump back in the White House. That’s why tonight I’m endorsing Donald Trump for president of the United States.”
Mr. Barrasso saved his announcement for Mr. Hannity’s show.
Mr. Barrasso said that states that have kicked President Trump off the ballot and are looking to do so are only benefiting the former president. “They cannot continue to do this. It’s not working for them. They know Joe Biden is a weak president,” he said.
Americans are worse off than they were four years ago, remarked Mr. Barrasso. This, he said, “is why Americans are turning to Donald Trump for president.”
Looking back at a 2019 visit he took with the then-president to Afghanistan during the war there, he said the armed forces respected former president.
Mr. Barrasso was the chairman of the platform committee at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
With Mr. Barrasso’s endorsement, President Trump has 20 endorsements from GOP senators. There are 49 Republicans in the Senate.
Mr. Barrasso has been in the Senate since 2007.
In addition to Mr. Barrasso, the only other member of Senate GOP leadership to endorse President Trump is Steve Daines, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the fundraising arm of the Senate GOP.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has virtually cut ties with President Trump since the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, has declined to weigh into the 2024 race.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) endorsed Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) presidential bid, which Mr. Scott suspended in November. He has since not made another endorsement in the race.
“The best four years I’ve had in the U.S. Senate was when President Trump was serving in the Oval Office,” said Mr. Daines on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast in April. “For these reasons and many others, I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.”
Mr. Barrasso’s endorsement of President Trump comes five days before the Iowa Caucus and 13 days ahead of the New Hampshire primary. President Trump has been dominating in the polls.
President Trump has a lead of 35.6 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average.
Mr. Barrasso’s endorsement came on the same day President Trump appeared in federal court in Washington to make the case that the alleged 2020 election subversion case against him should be tossed since as president he had immunity.
A three-judge panel of the court, consisting of Judges Michelle Childs, Karen LeCraft Henderson, and Florence Pan, scrutinized that argument during a Jan. 9 hearing that dealt with the sole issue of presidential immunity.
The case was brought last year by special counsel Jack Smith, alleging that President Trump conspired to criminally obstruct Congress from counting electoral votes in 2021.
Lawyers for the former president have moved to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the immunity issue. After District Judge Tanya Chutkan tossed the immunity argument, they appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, prompting Judge Chutkan to put the proceedings on hold.
