Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz endorsed former President Donald Trump for 2024 on Tuesday evening after his massive win in the Iowa caucus Monday.
Trump ended the night with a 30-point lead in the Hawkeye state, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 21.2%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 19.1% and conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 7.7%, according to The Associated Press. Cruz commended the former president for his “dominating victory” during an appearance with Fox News’ Sean Hannity and argued Republicans must unite around Trump to win down ballot in November.
“Last night was decisive. It was a dominating victory for Donald Trump,” Cruz said. “I’m a big believer in letting democracy play out. Well, last night it played out, and I’ve got to say Trump’s victory was across the board. He won 51% of the vote, he won 98 of the counties — congratulations to President Trump on that dominating victory. And at this point, I believe this race is over. So I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States.”
“I look forward to supporting him enthusiastically, because I think it’s time for the Republican Party to unite, for us to come together, we’ve got to beat Joe Biden. We’ve got to beat this disastrous cultural marxist agenda in the White House. We’ve got to retake the United States Senate, we’ve got to hold the House, we’ve got to come together and win, and with the results last night, the people have spoken. It’s time to move onward to victory in November,” Cruz added.
Trump posted the clip of Cruz’ endorsement on Truth Social, quoting the senator’s “this race is over” remarks.
🚨 Senator @tedcruz endorses President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/ZDbaVLpbiQ
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) January 17, 2024
Cruz’ endorsement follows several other Republican senators who recently threw their support behind Trump, including Marco Rubio of Florida, James Risch of Idaho, Mike Lee of Utah, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, John Barrasso of Wyoming and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
The former president now has the backing of roughly half of the Republican Senate delegation, including endorsements from all of the senators in Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Florida, Wyoming, Missouri and Tennessee.
Cruz won the Iowa caucus in 2016 with 27.6% support, followed by Trump at 24.3% and Rubio at 23.1%, according to The Associated Press’s tabulations reported by The New York Times.
New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary is on Tuesday, where Trump currently has a 13.2-point lead in the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average. Haley is polling closest to Trump with 31.3% support followed by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 11%, Ramaswamy at 6% and DeSantis at 5.8%.
Both Christie and Ramaswamy have since dropped out of the race, with the conservative businessman endorsing Trump after coming in fourth in the Iowa caucus.
Mary Lou Masters on January 17, 2024
