Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has officially backed former President Donald Trump for president, becoming the 18th GOP senator to endorse his 2024 comeback bid.
Former President Donald Trump has secured another endorsement for his 2024 bid for the White House, with Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) making his long-standing quiet backing for the former president official and full-throated.
“President Trump doesn’t need to worry. I’m with him. He’s asked me several times to support him. I said yes,” Mr. Hawley told Politico in an interview on Dec. 12.
Earlier, Mr. Hawley said he thinks President Trump would surely win the Republican nomination but stopped short of officially declaring his endorsement. That has now changed, with Mr. Hawley’s announcement making him the 18th Republican senator to endorse the former president’s comeback bid for the White House.
“I’ve been saying for a year that I think he’s going to be the nominee,” Mr. Hawley said. “I support him. I’m going to vote for him.”
The Missouri Republican added: “You can put me down as support, endorsed, stand with.”
In Democrats’ Crosshairs
The Missouri Republican’s declaration of endorsement comes after President Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to warn Mr. Hawley and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that Democrats are trying to figure out how to oust the two from their respective Senate seats and extend their razor-thin majority in the upper chamber.
“So interesting that the Democrats are looking hard at the Senate races in both Missouri and Texas,” President Trump wrote. “Josh and Ted must be very careful, stranger things have happened!!!”
The 2024 election cycle is vital to the Democrat Party as it looks to hold on to—or broaden—its slim Senate majority. This summer, Sarah Guggenheimer, a spokesperson for the Democrat-aligned Senate Majority political action committee (PAC), told Politico that Mr. Cruz and Mr. Hawley were major targets that Democrats want to oust.
At the time, Mr. Hawley told the outlet that he expects Democrat-aligned donors to spend $100 million to try and flip his Senate seat blue, while Mr. Cruz said that he’s taking the race “intensely seriously.”
By Tom Ozimek
