Former President Donald Trump is reportedly experiencing increasing frustration over the absence of an endorsement from former White House Press Secretary and current Republican Arkansas Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
According to Axios, Sanders had informed Trump that she would withhold her endorsement until after the conclusion of Arkansas’ legislative session in May.
However, this delay has left the former president questioning the whereabouts of her support. Sources familiar with the conversations revealed that Trump is particularly irked by Sanders’ apparent lack of backing, given her two-year tenure in his administration and his endorsement of her gubernatorial campaign on its very launch day.
“You should always dance with the person who brought you,” a Trump ally told Axios of the former president’s thinking.
Trump called Sanders earlier this year asking for her endorsement, The New York Times reported in early March. Trump denied the NYT’s reporting in a Truth Social post and said he doesn’t “generally ask” for endorsements, he gives them. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sanders’ father who ran against Trump in 2016, threw his support behind the former president’s 2024 bid weeks later.
“Governor Sanders loves President Trump and believes our country would be much better off under his leadership than President Biden, and that President Trump is the dominant frontrunner and our likely Republican nominee in 2024,” Alexa Henning, Sanders’ communications director, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “The Governor is focused right now on implementing the bold, transformational reforms she promised during her campaign and delivered in her first legislative session, not 2024 much less any election after that.”
Trump expressed his frustration last week with another Republican state executive, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, for not endorsing him in the primary and remaining neutral. He argued that he “opened up” the governor’s seat for Reynolds, as he appointed then-Gov. Terry Branstad as U.S. Ambassador to China in 2017, and said his endorsement in 2018 and 2022 helped her get elected.
The RealClearPolitics (RCP) average for a 2024 national Republican primary, based on polls conducted between June 16 and July 16, indicates Trump leads the crowded field of GOP candidates by nearly 34 points, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 20.2% support.
Trump did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
