Braun becomes latest GOP senator to endorse Trump
Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) on Monday became the latest Republican senator to endorse former President Trump for president, bringing Trump’s tally of senatorial endorsements to 11, far more than any other candidate.
“Donald Trump is a businessman and outsider,” Braun, who is running for governor in Indiana, told Fox News Digital. “Together, we took on the Washington swamp with a historic victory in the 2018 Indiana Senate race.
Braun went on to praise Trump as “the candidate capable of returning us to the America First policies that delivered unmatched prosperity and security for the American people.”
“I give Donald Trump my endorsement for President of the United States,” he said.
Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Ted Budd (N.C.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and JD Vance (Ohio) have also endorsed Trump.
Braun said earlier this year that he supported Trump’s policies but held back from endorsing him.
He told The Hill in June he’s “endorsing the policies” of Trump but clarified “I’ve not endorsed anyone officially.”
Braun praised Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy last month during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
He touted Ramaswamy as a compelling candidate when asked a hypothetical question about whom he would like to see win the GOP nomination if Trump, who is crushing the rest of the GOP field in national and state polls, fell short of winning the nomination.
“I think clearly the guy that is different that espouses a lot of what Trump did would be Vivek Ramaswamy because you’re going to have to have somebody that has a business background, is entrepreneurial. That’s the only chance we turn the biggest business around in the world and get it to where we’re not borrowing from our kids and grandkids,” Braun told CNBC anchor Joe Kernen.
“I think that’s why he’s resonating,” Braun said of Ramaswamy.
Braun’s formal endorsement of Trump, however, reflects a growing consensus among Republican senators and political strategists that Trump is not going to lose the presidential nomination to one of his GOP rivals.