WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina on Thursday endorsed Former President Donald Trump for president in 2024, according to a report from WRAL.
“Under President Trump, our economy saw record-setting growth, and families were starting to get ahead,” Budd said in a press release announcing the endorsement. “Neighborhoods were safer. Across the globe, we were achieving peace. We were respected by allies and feared by enemies.”
Of the 49 Republican senators, Budd appears to be only the seventh one to endorse Trump. Budd and the others are all freshmen senators except for one, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Business Insider reported this week.
Similarly, of the 222 Republican members of the U.S. House, Business Insider reported that only 40 have so far endorsed Trump. They include figures like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson.
Former President Trump made a momentous court appearance last week as the only ex-president to be charged with a crime as he was confronted with a 34-count felony indictment accusing him in a scheme to bury allegations of extramarital affairs during his first White House campaign.
The arraignment in a Manhattan courtroom was a stunning — and humbling — spectacle for the former president, putting him face-to-face with prosecutors who bluntly accused him of criminal conduct and setting the stage for a possible criminal trial in the city where he decades ago became a celebrity.
WRAL and the Associated Press both contributed to this report.