Michigan businessman Perry Johnson endorsed former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign on Monday, Oct. 23, after suspending his own campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Friday.
“After suspending my campaign for President on Friday, there is now only one candidate in this race who can provide a solution to our nation’s economic, foreign policy, and social crises, and most importantly, beat Joe Biden at the ballot box. That person is Donald Trump,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “During President Trump’s first term, our nation saw historic peace agreements, no new wars, an economic revival, and forged a new path forward away from corrupt, establishment career politicians.”
Mr. Johnson noted he had supported President Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and is proud to now lend his full endorsement to President Trump’s 2024 run. He said he looked forward to assisting President Trump’s efforts and to uniting with other conservatives “to defeat Joe Biden” in the November 2024 election.
President Trump, who is leading the field of Republican presidential candidates, thanked Mr. Johnson for the endorsement in a post on his Truth social media platform on Monday evening.
“Perry Johnson is a brilliant Businessman who has enjoyed great success. Above all, he loves our Country! After a valiant effort, he is now leaving the Race for President to do other things, which I have no doubt will be very successful,” President Trump wrote. “It is a great honor for me to have received his Full Endorsement. I will make Perry very proud of this decision, because we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Mr. Johnson had been a long-shot contender at the start of the primary campaign season and had self-funded his campaign.
He employed a variety of unconventional tactics to meet one of the debate requirements that each candidate have at least 40,000 unique campaign donors, including providing concert tickets and $10 gas gift cards to donors. Nevertheless, he suffered a significant setback in August when, despite his insistence that he’d met all the requisite qualifications, the Republican National Committee (RNC) ruled that he should not make the stage for the first Republican presidential debate on Aug. 23.
In his Friday statement announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign, Mr. Johnson accused the RNC of “corruption” over their handling of the debate process.
2024 Field Narrowing
With the decision to suspend his campaign and endorse President Trump, Mr. Johnson is now the second 2024 Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the race and throw his support behind another contender. Former Republican Texas Rep. Will Hurd suspended his own 2024 campaign on Oct. 9.
Like Mr. Johnson, Mr. Hurd had not made the stage for either of the two Republican primary debates. Announcing his decision to drop out of the race, Mr. Hurd said one of his primary reasons for running was to prevent “the rematch from hell between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.” He ultimately threw his support behind former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Mr. Hurd said Ms. Haley, who also served as a U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, has “an unmatched grasp on the complexities of our foreign policy.”
“I wholeheartedly endorse Ambassador Haley, and look forward to supporting her for the remainder of this race,” Mr. Hurd added.
Republican Miami Mayor Francis Suarez had also jumped into the 2024 presidential primary campaign before dropping out on Aug. 29. Mr. Suarez has yet to endorse any of the other primary candidates after suspending his campaign. He instead said he anticipates “keeping in touch with the other Republican presidential candidates and doing what I can to make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win.”
President Trump’s support among Republican primary voters stands at about 58.8 percent in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis follows in second place with about 13 percent support.
Ms. Haley currently sits in third place, with the support of about 8.3 percent of Republican primary voters, followed by businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in fourth place with about 4.8 percent of the vote. President Trump’s 2016 and 2020 running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence, rounds out the top five in the RCP polling average, with the support of about 3.4 percent of Republican primary voters.
Other candidates still in the Republican primary race include South Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder.