Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced on Wednesday night that he was endorsing former President Donald Trump for president.
Youngkin’s endorsement comes after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley dropped out of the race earlier in the day, leading the Republican National Committee to declare that Trump was the party’s presumptive nominee moving forward.
“Voters in the Commonwealth and across the country have spoken loudly for President Donald J. Trump and I endorse him for President of the United States,” Youngkin said in a statement. “His record on border security, restoring American leadership around the world, reducing taxes and lowering the cost of living for all Americans stands in stark contrast to the open borders, failed leadership on the global stage, rampant inflation and higher costs of today.”
“It’s time to unite around strong leadership and policies that grow our great nation, not four more years of President Biden,” Youngkin added.
It’s time to unite around strong leadership and policies that grow our great nation, not four more years of President Biden. pic.twitter.com/jnF1iFVRkk
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) March 7, 2024
Trump came close to officially clinching the nomination as he now stands at well over 1,000 delegates and he needs less than 200 to hit the 1,215 threshold to officially win. In Virginia, Trump beat Haley by 28 points.
Haley — whose only victories in the Republican Party presidential primary were in Vermont and Washington, D.C. — announced earlier in the day that she was suspending her campaign, but she stopped short of endorsing the former president.
She said in an interview on Sunday that she was no longer bound to honor her pledge to support Trump if he won the party’s nomination. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was Trump’s main competitor for most of the primary season, endorsed Trump when he announced that he was dropping out of the race following a second place in the Iowa Caucuses.
“In all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July,” she said. “I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president. Our country is too precious to let our differences divide us. I have always been a conservative Republican and always supported the Republican nominee. But on this question, as she did on so many others, Margaret Thatcher provided some good advice, when she said, ‘never just follow the crowd, always make up your own mind.’”
“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him,” she continued. “And I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing.”
Related: Senate GOP Leader McConnell Endorses Trump For President