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Marco Rubio endorses Trump over DeSantis on eve of Iowa Caucus

January 15, 2024 | | Print Article

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) stood up to be counted among those looking to “get on with the work of beating Biden…”

As caucus-goers braced themselves against frigid subzero temperatures to partake in rallies for their preferred Republican presidential candidate, the one-time White House hopeful himself weighed in with a post on social media. Taking to X Sunday afternoon, Rubio continued his support of former President Donald Trump becoming the 24th senator to do so.

The rival from the 2016 GOP presidential primary shared a brief message to signal his support that read, “When Trump was in [the White House] I achieved major policies I had worked on for years (like expanded Child Tax Credit & tough sanctions on the regime in Cuba & Venezuela) because we had a President who didn’t cave to special interests or let bureaucrats block us.”

“I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the ONLY way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created,” he continued. “It’s time to get on with the work of beating Biden & saving America!”

Rubio’s support for Trump came shortly after former 2024 candidate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum had appeared in Iowa to endorse, and two days after Utah Sen. Mike Lee had contended that before a single vote had been cast in the primary “Whether you like Trump or not, Americans face a binary choice.”

As it happened, the president had joined Rubio for a rally the Sunday before the 2022 midterm election that clashed with a re-election rally for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he had begun to snipe at more than six months before the executive, dubbed America’s Governor, would announce his own bid for the Republican nomination.

While many lauded the bevy of endorsements that Trump had received from federal officials, including more than 100 members of the House, others contrasted that with the support that candidates like DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley had garnered at the state level.

National Review senior writer Dan McLaughlin touched on that as he challenged Rubio’s premise not long after the support for Trump came out.

“A second Trump term, even if one materializes, will do none of this sort of thing, nor will it employ people interested in doing so. If Trump had been president in 2010, he’d have prevented you from ever being nominated for the Senate,” he wrote on X before bringing up failed candidates from 2022. “Senators considering endorsing Trump should discuss with their colleagues Blake Masters, Herschel Walker, Mehmet Oz, & Don Bolduc.”

“Fundamental difference between DC politicians endorsing Trump & state-level politicians endorsing DeSantis or Haley is that the former have internalized the idea that Biden getting re-elected is good for business, so no downside in helping him win.”

Kevin Haggerty
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