About two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, U.S Senator Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, endorsed former President Donald Trump. Cotton is one of 18 senators that have endorsed Trump.
“When Donald Trump was president, America was safe, strong, and prosperous. The economy was booming, working-class wages were growing, our border was secure, and our enemies feared us. With Joe Biden as president, everything has gone to hell: families can’t afford groceries, our border is wide open to a full-blown invasion, and our enemies are starting wars everywhere,” Cotton said in a statement on X.
According to Politico, Cotton worked with U.S Senator and GOP leader Mitch McConnell to stop Trump’s plans to overturn the 2020 election. Cotton, along with U.S Senator John Boozman, R-Arkansas, voted to certify President Joe Biden as president.
In his endorsement, Cotton also said he would be working with Trump to win the Senate, which has been controlled by Democrats since 2021.
“We have multiple great candidates, who I think will produce great nominees for the primary and that we will win back the United States Senate next year,” Cotton said in October, during a panel hosted by Punchbowl News in Little Rock.
After the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Cotton was on Trump’s list of Supreme Court nominees to replace her. At the time, Cotton said he was honored.
“The Supreme Court could use some more justices who understand the difference between applying the law and making the law, which the Court does when it invents a right to an abortion, infringes on religious freedom, and erodes the Second Amendment,” Cotton said in a press release.
So far, Cotton is the only member of the Arkansas’ congressional delegation to make an endorsement in the presidential race. Last year, Gov. Sarah Sanders, who is Trump’s former White House press secretary, endorsed the former president.
“It’s not a question between right versus left anymore. It’s normal versus crazy, and President Biden and the left are doubling down on crazy,” Sanders said in a statement to the AP. “The time has come to return to the normal policies of the Trump era which created a safer, stronger, and more prosperous America, and that’s why I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is running against Trump in the Republican primary, has said on the campaign trail one of the reasons he is running is because he does not believe Trump should be the nominee. Hutchinson has said the former president’s role in January 6 has disqualified him from being president.
Hutchinson wasn’t surprised by Cotton endorsing Trump.
“Tom has been a long-time ally of Donald Trump, so I understand his endorsement,” Hutchinson told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
According to the latest data from Five Thirty Eight, Trump is leading in each of the national polls for the Republican primary.
On January 15, the country will host its first primary in Iowa, which is known as the Iowa Caucus, according to the Iowa GOP.
