Trump picks up endorsements from holdouts after New Hampshire win

(WASHINGTON) — Texas Sen. John Cornyn, considered a top contender to succeed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, joined over half of Republicans in the chamber in endorsing Trump following the former president’s victory over Nikki Haley in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary.

In a reversal, Cornyn in a statement on X called on his party to consolidate support around a single candidate, Trump, after the double-digit win.

“I have seen enough. To beat Biden, Republicans need to unite around a single candidate, and it’s clear that President Trump is Republican voters’ choice,” Cornyn said.

The X statement comes eight months after Cornyn expressed skepticism that Trump could be an effective candidate in a call with Texas reporters.

“I think President Trump’s time has passed him by and what’s the most important thing to me is we have a candidate who can actually win,” Cornyn said in the May call.

Cornyn had changed his tune Wednesday, telling reporters he now likes Trump’s chances compared to President Joe Biden’s polling.

“I think it’s important to unify behind the candidate, and I respect the voter’s choice in Iowa and New Hampshire,” Cornyn said. “I think you’ll see that repeated in South Carolina as well.”

Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer also joined the ranks of lawmakers backing Trump.

“It’s time for Republicans to unite around President Donald Trump and make Joe Biden a one-term President,” Fischer said on X.

More than 100 Republicans in the House of Representatives are backing Trump. That includes all members of the GOP leadership.

Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday night called out members of his party who have yet to endorse the former president.

“It’s now past time for the Republican Party to unite around President Trump so we can focus on ending the disastrous Biden presidency and growing our majority in Congress,” he said on X.

At least two major players in the Senate continue to hold out on Trump: House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota.

McConnell dodged questions about his decision to withhold an endorsement at the GOP’s weekly press conference Tuesday.

“I don’t have any announcement to make on the presidential election … And in fact, as you may recall — I have stayed centrally out of it,” McConnell said. “And I have not changed my mind about that. I’ll let you know.”

Trump previously called for a primary challenger to close McConnell ally Thune, who won re-election anyway in 2022. Like Cornyn, Thune and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, who endorsed Trump in early January, are viewed as likely options of successors to McConnell.

Thune endorsed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott before Scott dropped out of the race.

But Scott threw his support behind Trump shortly before New Hampshire.

Speaking on Trump’s behalf at the former president’s victory rally post-New Hampshire, Scott delivered remarks reminiscent of Cornyn’s statement, calling on his party to come together.

“It’s time for the Republican Party to coalesce around our nominee and the next president of the United States, Donald Trump,” he said.