Donald Trump Picks Up Endorsement From GOP Senator As Iowa Caucus Approaches

Donald Trump grabbed another big endorsement with the Iowa Caucus a few days away.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) wholeheartedly endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

“He’s our one opportunity to choose order over chaos, and putting America first over America last,” Lee told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.

“It’s time to get behind Donald Trump, and I wholeheartedly endorse Donald J. Trump in his bid for the presidency in 2024,” he added.

WATCH:

Sen. Mike Lee endorses Donald Trump for president:

“He's our one opportunity to choose order over chaos, and putting America first instead of America last." pic.twitter.com/QOzRSQ47cV

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 13, 2024

Senator Mike Lee endorses Trump. Major!

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 13, 2024

Lee is the latest congressional endorsement for Trump before Monday’s Iowa Caucus.

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have failed to garner an equivalent number of big-name endorsements on the campaign trail.

From The Hill:

Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are failing to rack up big-name GOP endorsements in comparison with former President Trump, underscoring the challenges they face within their own ranks as voting is about to begin.

With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) endorsing Trump last week, the GOP front-runner officially has the support of all members of House Republican leadership. More than 100 members of the House and almost 20 GOP senators also have thrown their support behind Trump, while only a handful have endorsed any of his opponents.

On Tuesday, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who is running for Senate in Michigan, became the latest national party figure to endorse Trump, after previously being critical of the former president and saying his “time has passed.”

Strategists said the endorsement gap is indicative of the power that Trump holds on the party and the unwillingness that many Republicans have to abandon him.

“It’s the political reality that the Republican base is enamored of Donald Trump, and Trump supporters are far more vocal about their support and far more rigid about the requirement that other Republicans support Trump,” GOP strategist Jason Cabel Roe said.

The former president entered the 2024 presidential race in November 2022, one of the earliest starts of a presidential campaign in modern history, and was immediately viewed as the favorite. By the time Haley became his first major challenger in February of the following year, Trump had already attained endorsements from 25 House and five Senate Republicans.

According to The Hill, Ron DeSantis has picked up endorsements from just five House Republicans.

Nikki Haley has not gained any other congressional support since getting an endorsement from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).

Sen. Mike Lee endorses Donald Trump for President! https://t.co/DSOczz6IQ4

— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) January 13, 2024

The Post Millennial noted:

The four remaining presidential contenders for the GOP ticket, Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy have been campaigning for weeks. Trump has been consistently in the lead, with polls showing him up to 60 points ahead of the remaining three candidates.

DeSantis has been a steady second to former President Donald Trump, though recently his second place spot has been threatened by Nikki Haley. DeSantis, who was endorsed by Trump in his run for Florida’s governor, has distanced himself from Trump.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Lee have been allied in the past. After DeSantis debated California Governor Gavin Newsom, Lee was outspoken in saying that DeSantis “cleaned the f[l]oor” with Newsom. As for Newsom, Lee said that was “a singularly unlikable guy.”

In the spring of 2023, DeSantis travelled to DC to meet with Republicans on Capitol Hill. DeSantis’ goal at the time was to shore up support among his peers in DC. Only two members of the House GOP endorsed DeSantis at the time, Texas’ Chip Roy and Thomas Massie of Kentucky.