Mike Braun Becomes 11th GOP Senator to Endorse Trump for President

Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) endorsed former President Donald Trump for President of the United States on Monday morning, becoming the eleventh Republican senator to do so this election cycle.

Fox News’s Houston Keene was the first to report Braun’s endorsement midday Monday. In an emailed press release, Braun touted Trump’s status as an “outsider” and their work together during Trump’s first term:

“Donald Trump is a businessman and outsider. Together, we took on the Washington swamp with a historic victory in the 2018 Indiana Senate race. We installed constitutional conservatives on the Supreme Court who have protected the unborn and our Second Amendment rights, and we disrupted the cozy, self-serving Washington elites who are bankrupting our country.

“Donald Trump is the candidate capable of returning us to the America First policies that delivered unmatched prosperity and security for the American people. I give Donald Trump my endorsement for President of the United States.”

Braun joins ten of his Senate colleagues, four Republican governors, and dozens of GOP members of Congress who have come out in support of Trump, as FiveThirtyEight notes. The other GOP senators who have endorsed Trump are: 

• Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
• Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC)
• Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 
• Sen Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
• Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
• Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) 
• Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) 
• Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) 

Only four other Republican senators have endorsed in the Republican presidential primary. Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) has the support of both of his states’ U.S. senators, Kevin Cramer (R) and John Hoeven (R), while Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) have come out in support for their colleague Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). 

While Braun seeks the governorship, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) is vying for his seat. Notably, Banks and Trump have endorsed one another in their respective races, while Braun came out on September 13 in support of Banks as his successor: