By Former President Donald Trump has received one of his most significant endorsements of the year, so far at least. Over the holiday weekend, GOP House Majority Leader Steve Scalise announced that he would be backing Trump as he chases a third bid for the White House.
I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024, and I look forward to working with President Trump and a Republican House and Senate to fight for those families who are struggling under the weight of Biden’s failed policies.https://t.co/FTmUcORccr
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScaliseGOP) January 2, 2024
USA Today writes:
“I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2024, and I look forward to working with President Trump and a Republican House and Senate to fight for those families who are struggling under the weight of Biden’s failed policies,” Scalise said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Scalise’s endorsement comes as the first early contests near in Iowa and New Hampshire, pivotal early voting states that could have great influence in determining the eventual nominee. The No. 2 ranking House Republican joins the growing chorus of Republicans who have endorsed Trump.
Scalise’s support is particularly notable as Trump in part tanked his bid for speaker last year. As House Republicans scrambled to elect a new speaker and struggled to unite behind Scalise as the conference nominee, Trump publicly questioned Scalise’s health and suggested he was too sick to serve. Scalise, who is currently battling a treatable form of blood cancer, ultimately withdrew from the speaker’s race due to divisions in the GOP conference.
Trump has secured the endorsements of other high ranking House Republicans as well. The top House Republican, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the No. 4 ranking House Republican, have endorsed the former president.
The Louisiana congressman, who became famous after surviving an assassination attempt by a Bernie Sanders supporter, told Fox News, “The economy was strong and interest rates were low — grocery costs were affordable, and families could afford to buy a house and provide for their children,” Scalise continued. “The border was secure and crime was down. America had secure energy policies, keeping gas and utility prices low.”
Scalise noted that life under Biden has been disastrous, saying he “has driven our country into chaos with skyrocketing costs, and hardworking taxpayers are the ones paying the price,” and that under his administration, “gas prices more than doubled, housing affordability reached all-time lows, mortgage rates doubled, inflation hit the highest level in 40 years, and interest rates are at the highest level in 22 years.”
“Hardworking Americans are fed up — consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level ever under President Biden,” Scalise continued.
One of the top Republican congressmen, Scalise said the United States needs “a strong leader to fix the problems Joe Biden has created and — with rising aggression from adversaries abroad — deter foreign actors who wish to harm us,” noting the “over 6.2 million encounters at the southern border” and the “1.7 million known gotaways” coming and being arrested from “hundreds of countries.”
The announcement from Scalise comes as Trump has announced that he will be holding a town hall on Fox News instead of debating Nikki Haley, who has been rising up the polls in New Hampshire, and Ron DeSantis, who has won the endorsements of major figures throughout Iowa.
“Fox News is set to hold a town hall event in Des Moines, Iowa, with former President Donald Trump on Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. Eastern time, a move that directly competes with CNN’s Iowa GOP primary debate held on the same night at the same time.
The Fox News Trump event, announced on Tuesday, marks the former president’s fifth time snubbing a debate matchup with his 2024 Republican rivals. He has skipped all four primary debates sponsored by the Republican National Committee.
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will co-moderate the Trump town hall for the first time since May 2020, when Trump last sat down for an interview with the pair. The Jan. 10 town hall, just five days before the Iowa caucuses, also marks Trump’s return to holding counterevents during GOP debate nights.
CNN’s debate on Jan. 10 required candidates to reach at least 10% in three national or Iowa polls, but only Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have met the qualifications,” according to The Washington Examiner.
A poll released the week of Christmas found Haley within four points of the former president, prompting online outrage from Trump.
America’s News Desk reported that several Trump supporters have grown concerned about Haley’s rise. “Donald Trump’s team has finally admitted that they’re worried. With Nikki Haley rocketing up the polls in New Hampshire, Trump’s allies have changed their stance toward the former president’s ambassador to the UN.
The change in tone on the campaign trail has revealed a growing concern from Mar-a-Lago. Whereas most of MAGA world delighted in calling her by Trump’s nickname, “birdbrain,” they’re now focused on real attacks, calling her “High Tax Haley,” the outlet noted.
Haley’s quick rise has caused some in the former president’s orbit to worry that Trump will have no choice but to choose her as vice president, if he wins the nomination for a third time in a row.
[Read More: Controversial President Resigns]
