Rep. Jim Banks (R-ID) this weekend appeared to again off his earlier endorsements of Donald Trump’s potential 2024 candidacy, telling Fox Information Sunday that “I’ll save my endorsement for one more place and time for the 2024 race.”
The Republican lawmaker has on a number of events signaled his help for a Trump 2024 run, telling Politico over the summer season that he would again the previous president as quickly as he enters the race. “If President Trump runs, he has my help,” Banks mentioned. “And he helps us draw out Trump voters which helps us win in November within the midterm… He’s extra standard than he’s ever been earlier than.”
And earlier this week, the day after Trump-backed candidates vastly underperformed within the midterm elections—main many throughout the occasion to blame the ex-president and sign a break from the election-denying chief—Banks instructed The New York Instances that he nonetheless supported Trump, who “remodeled our occasion.”
Trump is anticipated to announce a presidential run on Tuesday, regardless of protestations from his personal allies. When requested on Sunday morning by Fox Information anchor Shannon Bream about whether or not Trump’s main candidacy is a “good or dangerous factor” for the GOP, Banks struck a extra hesitant tone in comparison with his earlier help for the ex-president.
“Donald Trump is standard determine within the Republican Social gathering, in every nook of the nation,” the MAGA-boosting congressman mentioned, including that “we’re nonetheless unpacking what occurred final Tuesday, making an attempt to determine the place our occasion goes from right here.”
Requested point-blank whether or not he'll help Trump, Banks dodged the query: “I imagine Donald Trump was an efficient president, I imagine could possibly be a really efficient president for our nation once more. I’ll save my endorsement for one more place and time for the 2024 race. I’m centered wholly on what occurred on Tuesday and the way the occasion strikes ahead on Capitol Hill.”