High profile conservatives serve as surrogates as Trump looks to lock down GOP nomination

CNN —

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, sporting a white and gold “Caucus Captain” hat, beamed as he marveled about the charming nature of the Iowa caucuses. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was all smiles as she talked to a conservative media host. Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson mingled with guests at the Iowa Events Center. They were all awaiting Donald Trump’s victory speech Monday night – a moment of vindication for the former president’s earliest supporters, who had been in lockstep with him during his most precarious moments in his political career.

They are also part of an army of high-profile lawmakers and conservative figures who have served as his surrogates to pester his opponents, campaign on his behalf while Trump instead chooses to be in and out of court rooms, and argue that the party is uniting around the former president.

Their numbers include Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Florida Rep. Byron Donalds both of whom have made a point of helping campaign for Trump in early primary states. In their appearances, they act as distractions from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, as well as his most vicious attack dogs.

Additionally, two former Republican presidential candidates have traveled to the early primary states alongside Trump almost immediately after they ended their respective campaigns to defeat him. When entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ended his campaign on Monday night, he quickly endorsed Trump and then was on the trail in New Hampshire the next day, rallying supporters with the former president. Similarly, after North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum dropped out in December, he endorsed Trump and traveled with him in Iowa and to New Hampshire.

This weekend, ahead of the