In the capital city of New Hampshire, Concord, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina has publicly endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
Speaking to Fox News shortly after the announcement, Scott urged the GOP to unite behind the former President.
"We need to consolidate our party to ensure that our sole focus is on ousting Joe Biden," Scott stressed, following his formal endorsement of Trump at a campaign rally. "The most effective strategy to remove Joe Biden from the presidency is to rally our party behind Donald Trump," he further elaborated.
Scott, whose own presidential campaign came to an end in November, is the third former Republican presidential candidate to endorse Trump in the past week.
Last weekend, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum expressed his support for Trump at a rally in Indianola, Iowa. Biotech entrepreneur and multi-millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy also endorsed Trump on Monday night, suspending his own campaign after a disappointing performance in the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy joined Trump at a rally in Atkinson, New Hampshire the following evening.
The endorsements are not limited to former Republican presidential nomination rivals. Scott, the Senate's only Black Republican, is the 26th GOP lawmaker in the upper chamber to back Trump. Nearly 120 House Republicans and 10 governors have also pledged their support for Trump.
Trump, who is making his third consecutive run for the White House, is significantly ahead of his remaining GOP 2024 rivals - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley - in terms of endorsements.
"It's unusual to see such an outsider garnering such widespread support in D.C. and unifying the party at this early stage," veteran Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett told Fox News.
Despite having served four years in the White House and running a campaign akin to an incumbent's as he attempts to reclaim his old job, Trump maintains a public image as an outsider.
Looking ahead to Tuesday's New Hampshire GOP presidential primary, where polls suggest Trump has a significant lead over Haley and DeSantis, Bartlett commented, "We'll see what happens on Tuesday, but at present, this appears to be a general election campaign."
At the start of 2023, Trump was the only declared candidate in the race for the Republican nomination. However, his victory was far from certain. DeSantis, fresh from a resounding gubernatorial re-election victory, was on par with Trump in some early 2024 polls.
Trump faced considerable criticism from fellow Republicans for his perceived role in the GOP's mediocre performance in the 2022 midterms. Moreover, his 2024 presidential campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was widely criticized by pundits.
However, the four indictments Trump faced last year, including charges of attempting to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, have only increased his popularity among Republican presidential primary voters.
On Monday, Trump dominated the Iowa caucuses, the first contest on the GOP nominating calendar. While Haley and DeSantis continue to vie for the Republican nomination, Matt Mowers, a veteran of the Trump State Department and the 2020 Republican nominee in New Hampshire's first congressional district, told Fox News, "Many people are beginning to look beyond the primary."
However, Mowers also noted that "New Hampshire has a history of springing surprises, so we'll see how it all unfolds."
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