Wyoming U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis officially endorsed former President Donald Trump in his 2024 presidential bid Friday, clinching unanimous support for Trump among the state’s congressional delegation.
Lummis’ endorsement follows on the heels of the Trump endorsement fellow Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso gave on Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman endorsed Trump first in February 2023.
Like Barrasso, Lummis positioned her endorsement as an indictment of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy and the southern border.
“Living in Joe Biden's America is a disaster,” Lummis said in an announcement. “His open borders agenda has caused a crisis at the border and throughout the country like we've never seen before.”
Under Trump, the American economy was in a relatively strong position until the COVID pandemic hit. Biden took office shortly after, but hasn’t managed during his three years in office to make a sizable cut in inflation.
Lummis blames this on his administration’s spending.
“His out-of-control spending spree has caused inflation to skyrocket, costing the average family in Wyoming nearly $13,000 a year,” Lummis said. “It is clear we need to get our country back on track, and the person we need in the White House to fix our nation is Donald Trump.”
Is It A Flip?
Lummis has for the most part always supported Trump publicly, but has issued support for some of his leading competitors like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the past and taken certain stances Trump would be unlikely to agree with.
In 2022, she was one of 11 Republican senators to support a bill codifying same-sex marriage into federal law.
She also drew attention that year when she said she views DeSantis as the leader of the Republican Party. Last May, she clarified her position a bit that although she still finds DeSantis to be the leader of the party and the designer of its platform, this does not take away from the fact she views Trump as the leading Republican candidate for president.
Trump is leading DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley by a large margin with the Iowa Caucus, the kickoff to the 2024 primary election season, coming up Monday.
Lummis had previously indicated that she would be unlikely to endorse a candidate for the Republican primary.
Barrasso’s endorsement was significant as he became the first member of Republican Senate leadership to support Trump’s bid.
Although Trump’s support among Republicans in the Senate has been tepid at times, he now has 21 endorsements in the chamber, while DeSantis and Haley have none.
According to CNN, Trump’s advisers have quietly informed some Republicans that they are keeping track of who endorses him before and after the Iowa Caucus.
“During his presidency, our border was secure, basic goods and services were affordable and Wyoming energy was poised to power the world,” Lummis said. “I will once again cast my vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming primary and encourage the American people to do the same.”
Nuanced Support
Lummis was endorsed by Trump in her 2020 campaign, even after saying she would be “holding her nose” while voting for him in 2016.
But unlike Barrasso, Lummis refused to vote to certify the Pennsylvania results of the 2020 election. Lummis also voted to acquit Trump during his second impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Still, she told Cowboy State Daily in 2022 that former Vice President Mike Pence did the right thing by certifying the election results, despite not doing so herself.
She, like the former vice president, was rushed into the underground bunker when the certification of the Arizona election ballots was interrupted, an experience she described as frightening.
“His role that day was not to intervene, but to simply preside over the process of certifying electors,” Lummis said. “He performed his constitutional duties within the confines of his authority with complete grace and skill under very difficult circumstances.”
Both she and Barrasso have condemned the Jan. 6 riot, but have never accused Trump of playing a role in the event.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
