'Binary Choice': Republicans Endorsing Trump Pretend Other GOP Candidates Don't Exist

Voting in the 2024 GOP presidential race kicked off this week in Iowa, but to many Republicans who have been sitting on the sidelines, Donald Trump has already won. Now, they simply have no choice but to endorse his presidential campaign against Democrat Joe Biden.

That kind of highly partisan rationale worked for Trump in 2016 after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, and it’s working for him now as establishment GOP officials again rally to his cause even though he sought to overturn an election he lost, culminating in the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and his pledge to build a second term around seeking revenge.

A growing number of Republicans are also choosing to ignore several other alternatives who are still in the race, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who would almost certainly push for the same policies as Trump if elected, like tax cuts, deregulation and tougher immigration policies.

On X, formerly Twitter, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) voiced his support of Trump on his personal account last Friday.

“Whether you like Trump or not, Americans face a binary choice,” he said. “Biden refuses to enforce our border, prosecutes his opponents, & embraces policies that make life unaffordable for hardworking Americans.”

“I’ll take the mean tweets,” Lee added, referring to Trump’s many unhinged rants online. “I choose Trump.”

Lee didn’t choose Trump in 2016 when he led an effort to deny Trump the nomination during the 2016 GOP presidential convention. He’s since come around to the twice impeached and criminally charged ex-president, even going so far to help push legally dubious schemes to keep Trump in power after he lost to Biden in the 2020 election.

North Dakota Gov.