Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) announced he is endorsing former President Donald Trump after the former president’s win in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary on Saturday.
Thune’s office confirmed to the Washington Examiner he is endorsing the former president on Sunday, making Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) the remaining holdouts in Senate GOP leadership.
“The primary results in South Carolina make clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in this year’s pivotal presidential election. The choice before the American people is crystal clear: It’s Donald Trump or Joe Biden,” Thune said in a statement.
“I support former President Trump’s campaign to win the presidency, and I intend to do everything I can to see that he has a Republican majority in the Senate working with him to restore American strength at home and abroad,” the statement continued.
Thune also said that the “disastrous Biden-Schumer agenda” must be put to an end and said the country cannot handle “another four years of Bidenomics,” along with problems at the southern border and on the world stage.
The endorsement from the Senate GOP’s no. 2 adds to Trump’s significant number of endorsements from Republican senators, representatives, and other elected officials. He has also received the endorsement of former opponents in the GOP primary, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
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While Ernst has not endorsed Trump, she said in January she was not ruling out an endorsement for the former president.
McConnell and Trump have had bad blood in recent years, with both taking swipes at each other in public comments. McConnell has called Trump “diminished” after a poor showing among his candidates in the 2022 elections, while Trump has regularly attacked the Senate GOP leader and his wife.
