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‘I choose Trump’: Sen. Mike Lee says bring on ‘mean tweets’ because he’s with Team MAGA

January 14, 2024 | | Print Article

Utah Sen. Mike Lee has officially endorsed former President Donald Trump for president despite the former president’s “mean tweets.”

Lee announced the endorsement twice on Friday — first on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” and then later on the social media platform X.

“The American people have a choice to make,” he said while on Fox News. “In this circumstance, they have a rare, historically unusual chance to choose between two presidents. They have a chance to choose between order and lawlessness. They have an opportunity to choose between putting America first and America last.”

“I choose first and always to put America first,” he added.

Listen:

But Lee wasn’t done yet.

“Look, whether you like Donald Trump or not, whether you agree with everything he says or not, he’s our one opportunity to choose order over chaos and putting America first over America last,” he continued. “It’s time to get behind him.”

“And look, in presidential campaigns, there are a lot of promises made. My favorite kinds of political promises are promises kept. Donald Trump has kept promises that he’s made as he’s campaigned in the past,” he added.

Lee concluded with one final pitch for Trump.

“We know what kind of president he’ll be, so whether you agree with him on every point or not, if you are not content with the status quo, the status quo of lawlessness, of putting America last, it’s time to get behind Donald Trump,” he said. “And I wholeheartedly endorse Donald J. Trump in his bid for the presidency in 2024.”

He later doubled down in a tweet by writing that “Americans face a binary choice” between someone who refuses to do his job (President Joe Biden) and someone who posts “mean tweets” but at least knows how to get the job done correctly:

That being said, Lee’s “binary choice” rhetoric did not sit well with former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, who has since come out as a staunch supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who too is running for president.

In a tweet posted Saturday morning, she noted that the presidential election is still in the primary phase, meaning that no, there is no “binary choice” at the moment.

“Binary choice between Trump and Biden? This is January 2024 and the PRIMARY,” she wrote. “RIGHT NOW we have a far better option to send to the general, and I think you know that @BasedMikeLee.”

“You’re free to endorse anyone you want, but at least be honest about an endorsement in the primary. Why do you supposedly think a second term of Trump could be better for genuine conservative values and America than 8 years of DeSantis?” she added.

Look:

But Ellis faced backlash of her own, with critics swooping in to argue that her preferred candidate has zero chance of winning the primary.

“Trump is up like 30 pts on everyone,” one very blunt critic tweeted at Ellis. “This has not changed since the start. If at any point it was a close race, you’d have a point. DeSantis I think is 3rd at this point, losing to John McCain in high heels. It’s over.”

“RDS has shown no plan or path to get to 270,” another critic added. “His goal is to pull off a win in Iowa. Cruz redux. Love them both, but neither produced their roadmap to 270. If I am incorrect, please post it.”

See more responses below:

Vivek Saxena
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