Republican leaders pressed to endorse Trump as RNC weighs making him presumptive nominee

Former President Donald Trump is racking up endorsements from Congress Republicans, totaling 30 Senators and over 120 House members. 

However, some top Republicans in both chambers have yet to endorse Trump. After the former president rejected a Republican National Committee draft resolution that would have formally declared him the GOP’s 2024 presumptive nominee on Thursday, pressure is mounting on House and Senate leaders to back their party’s top choice. 

House Republicans

After winning the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday and the Iowa caucuses last week, Trump picked up a number of endorsements from top House leaders. When Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) suspended his presidential campaign on Sunday and endorsed Trump, House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA) followed suit after backing the Florida governor’s White House dreams. 

“It is my privilege to provide my complete and total endorsement for Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States. President Trump was the greatest President of my lifetime, and we need him to reinstate the policies that were working so well for America,” Good wrote in a post on X,

Less than 100 House Republicans have yet to back the former president — Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), who became Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) captured the House’s top post, has yet to comment on his 2024 pick. Moore was one of 35 House Republicans who voted in 2021 in favor of an independent commission into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the House Oversight and Accountability Committee chairman who leads the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family’s business, has yet to endorse Trump despite an aggressive probe into his top Democratic rival. Comer endorsed Trump in 2020, and in November 2022, Trump returned the favor, calling the Kentucky representative a “fantastic congressman.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to the offices of Moore and Comer for comment. 

Senate Republicans

Indicating he may join other top Republicans in endorsing Trump following his New Hampshire victory, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters on Tuesday he’s “stayed essentially out of it.”

“When I change my mind about that, I’ll let you know,” he said, adding: “We are all watching New Hampshire with great interest,” McConnell said.

McConnell and Trump’s relationship grew rocky when the longest-serving Senate party leader admitted that Biden won the 2020 White House race. McConnell said he would support Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee but has not said he’d endorse him beforehand. 

After Tuesday’s primary, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the conference’s No. 2 leader, said he’d “support the nominee” but, like McConnell, has yet to give the former president his endorsement. 

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“So if he’s the nominee, I’ll do what I can to help the team win the presidency,” Thune said, per Politico. 

The Washington Examiner reached out to the offices of McConnell and Thune for comment.

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