Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso became the highest-ranking Senate Republican to endorse former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
With the endorsement from the No. 3 Senate Republican, Trump has won the endorsements of 20 GOP senators while his current 2024 primary rivals have yet to secure a single backer from Congress’ upper chamber.
“We cannot afford another four years of Joe Biden's failure,” Barrasso said on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Tuesday night. “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. And we need Donald Trump back in the White House.”
Barrasso, a possible candidate to eventually succeed to Mitch McConnell as the Senate Republican leader, cited Trump’s hardline immigration and foreign policies, the economic conditions of his first term and oil and gas deals President Joe Biden has cut with foreign countries as reasons for his backing of Trump.
“When President Trump was in office, we had the best economy in my lifetime, in most of our lifetimes, we had energy independence, our enemies feared us and we have a secure border,” Barrasso said, later referring to his role as the chair of Trump’s 2020 convention platform committee. “The New York Times called it the most conservative Republican platform in 100 years, and I don't think they meant it as a compliment. The policies worked for Donald Trump. They were afraid of him.”
The two Senate Republicans senior to Barrasso, McConnell and North Dakota Sen. John Thune, have less friendly relationships with Trump — who described Barrasso on social media as a “truly extraordinary man” and thanked him for his endorsement “delivered beautifully." Trump has repeatedly railed against McConnell since the 2020 presidential election, when the Kentuckian declined to assist the then-president's efforts to overturn his loss. It has been widely reported the pair have not spoken in years.
“The last time I spoke to the president was the day after the Electoral College declared President Biden the winner,” McConnell said in March 2022.
Thune previously endorsed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in the presidential primary, but has yet to offer a new endorsement since Scott dropped out in November. This week, he said he disagrees with Trump's use of the word "hostage" to describe those imprisoned for crimes or alleged crimes connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The other top members of leadership, Policy Chair Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Conference Vice Chair Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have yet to endorse.
On Wednesday, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., appeared on a local Oregon radio show and became the latest of dozens of House members to endorse Trump. The primary’s frontrunner also racked up the endorsement of seven governors, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and every member of House GOP leadership.
His main competitors, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, trail him in endorsements as they do in polls — by a lot. But they’ve scored key endorsements, including the governors of the first two states in the primary season: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is backing DeSantis and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununnu has endorsed Haley. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has also backed DeSantis. And Haley announced on Tuesday that TV court Judge Judy Sheindlin is supporting her.
“Judge Judy is a no-nonsense lady who has earned the respect of millions of Americans from her courtroom by being thoughtful, fair, and honest,” Haley said in a statement. “I’m honored to have her support.”
The Iowa caucuses are on Jan. 15. The New Hampshire primaries follow on Jan. 23.