This changes everything; Congressman Duncan Hunter endorses Trump for President:
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO on Wednesday that he will support Trump for the Republican nomination, making him one of the first members of Congress to express public support for the Manhattan businessman who is the prohibitive front-runner after his victory in Tuesday’s Nevada caucuses.
Also on Wednesday, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told The Buffalo News that he is backing Trump, saying he has the “guts and fortitude” to get jobs back from China and to take on foreign threats such as the Islamic State and North Korea.
In an interview on Wednesday, Hunter told POLITICO that Trump has the strength needed for the job. “We don’t need a policy wonk as president. We need a leader as president,” Hunter said, adding that he has told his colleagues much of the same thing. “I’m in, and I’ve been in,” he said in a telephone interview.
Trump has received no support from establishment Republicans. In fact, many conservative media have come out against his candidacy, claiming that he lacks conservative credentials would compromise principles, and for supporting the Obamacare mandate.
House speaker Paul Ryan denounced Trump’s rhetoric a few months ago. Candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Rand Paul continually made the case that Trump wasn’t a true conservative.
Ideology notwithstanding, Trump leads the delegate count, after the Nevada caucuses with 84 delegates. Rubio and Cruz are tied for second with 19 delegates a piece.
Hunter’s endorsement may be genuine or it might be the first signal that DC Republicans have accepted Trump as the presumptive nominee and are scrambling to get on the winning team. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened.