Although former President Donald Trump has been the clear front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary race since he formally announced his candidacy, certain factions of the party have continued to push other White House hopefuls in a futile effort to knock him out of his firm first-place position.
With voters set to weigh in as soon as next month in early primary states, a growing number of prominent Republicans are expressing support for the presumptive nominee and urging others in the party to do the same.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, for example, recently cited the latest polls in an effort to disprove the theory that a Trump alternative would emerge as candidates began to drop out of the race. Instead, she noted, the former president has only added to his commanding lead.
“We were told that as the field shrinks, the polls would narrow,” she wrote in a social media post on Monday. “Well … the field has been shrinking, and support for President Trump has been growing, now sitting at over 50% (Up from 43% in Oct).”
As a result, she said the time has come for all Republicans to “unite behind President Trump and focus all our efforts and resources on defeating Joe Biden.”
Noem has been on Team Trump for a while, offering an endorsement in September for the candidate she called “the fighter that our country needs.”
🚨BREAKING: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem endorses Trump for President.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 9, 2023
While a handful of GOP primary candidates — most notably Mike Pence and Tim Scott — have dropped out of the race in recent weeks, there is no indication that the four White House hopefuls who participated in the most recent debate will be exiting the race, at least before the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
Both Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who are jockeying for a distant second-place position behind Trump, have expressed confidence that their respective standings in the race will improve when Republicans start casting their ballots.
DeSantis has received endorsements from high-profile Iowa Republicans and has spent a considerable amount of time campaigning in the state, but recent polls show he still has a 32-point deficit against Trump in the state.
