A subtle message from the Trump campaign has Republican lawmakers in Washington and across the country eager to show their loyalty to former President Donald Trump before it may be too late.
A spate of recent endorsements from various members of Congress and governors – including every member of House GOP leadership and the No. 3 Senate Republican – is a direct result of Trump and his team’s ramped up effort to secure as many endorsements as possible in the final days before the Iowa caucuses. The former president’s advisers have quietly informed some Republicans that they are keeping track of who endorses him pre- and post-Iowa, four sources familiar with discussions told CNN.
That message has loudly echoed through the halls of the US Capitol and governors mansions across the country and has encouraged some remaining GOP holdouts to speed up their endorsement timelines.
“After he heard that they were keeping tabs, he decided — ‘If I’m going to endorse anyway, why be on the wrong side of this thing?’” an adviser to a lawmaker who recently endorsed Trump told CNN of their boss’ thinking.
And of the few congressional Republicans who have endorsed other candidates, at least one says they are facing some pressure to change gears. GOP Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who has endorsed Nikki Haley’s presidential bid, told CNN that someone recently reached out on behalf of Trump to see whether he’d be willing to switch his endorsement ahead of Iowa – an entreaty that Norman declined.
“I’m very comfortable with my choice with Nikki. You see what she’s doing in the polls,” Norman said. “I like Donald Trump. His policies were great. But we could use a person that can spend eight years trying to correct this country.”
Senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita denied that anyone on the…
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