Reynolds, Youngkin and other GOP leaders endorse Trump after keeping their distance
The former president is now very close to clinching the party's 2024 nomination.
With former President Donald Trump on the verge of clinching the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, two GOP governors who had distant relationships with him have now issued endorsements, as other conservative leaders previously on the sidelines also throw their support to Trump in the early stages of the general election.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds wrote on Wednesday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that she plans on fully supporting Trump in his bid to become president again, adding that she believes incumbent President Joe Biden "has been a disaster for our country."
"Higher prices, inflation, an open border, crime, and the destruction of America's image on the world stage. I will do everything to defeat him and elect Donald J. Trump for President of the United States!" Reynolds wrote.
She had previously split with Trump by backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in November during DeSantis' now-suspended presidential bid.
In July, before Reynolds made any endorsement, Trump called her out in a social media post for staying neutral and not supporting him, claiming he "opened up the Governor position" for her.
She later told reporters that she owed her governorship to Iowans, not the former president: "They put their trust in me in 2018. It was a tough year for Republicans. I was one of the few that made it across the finish line and then overwhelmingly won in 2022."
In November, Trump again slammed the Iowa governor in a post on his social media platform, calling her disloyal and contending she had become widely unpopular, along with DeSantis.
Her response then was that Trump "was very discouraged because I didn't endorse in the beginning ... he's using me to mislead Iowans as if I'm endorsing him."
Separately on Wednesday, on the East Coast, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin also endorsed former Trump -- a departure from Youngkin's previous distance from Trump.
"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 ... It's time to unite around strong leadership and policies that grow our great nation, not four more years of President Biden," Youngkin wrote in a statement shared on X.
While Youngkin's endorsement of Trump was expected, given he previously said he would back the Republican nominee, he has kept Trump at arm's length during his campaign and term in office.
Related Stories
Last May, Youngkin said at an event in California, "I think there's a future for the Republican Party for sure, and it doesn't necessarily depend on Donald Trump."
While Youngkin was campaigning for governor in 2021, Trump remained largely uninvolved in the race and never appeared in public with Youngkin.
In 2022, Trump still claimed on social media that Youngkin "couldn't have won without me."
Notably, Youngkin was not present at Trump's rally in Richmond, Virginia, in early March.
Last year, Youngkin was also seen by some in the Republican Party as an alternative to Trump when he wasn't definitively ruling out a possible 2024 presidential run.
After receiving Youngkin's endorsement on Wednesday, Trump thanked him in a social media post and said he "looks forward to working" with the governor to win Virginia. (The state has voted for the Democratic nominee for president since 2008.)
The Youngkin and Reynolds endorsements come as other Republican leaders who have previously criticized Trump, such as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, have endorsed him in the wake of the former president's Super Tuesday victories.
"I said in February of 2021, shortly after the attack on the Capitol, that I would support President Trump if he were the nominee of our party, and he obviously is going to be the nominee of our party," McConnell told reporters on Wednesday.
McConnell's backing came even though he has a strained relationship with the former president, and he was highly critical of Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Conversely, Maryland's former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican who is now running for the U.S. Senate, told Axios on Thursday that he would not support Trump in the general election, despite previously stating he would support the Republican nominee, whomever was selected.
"I don't think there's a single Republican in America that has stood up more strongly for a longer period of time than me on the changes that have taken place in the Republican Party," Hogan said.
ABC News' Laura Romero and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.
Related Topics
Related Stories
ABC News Live