The members of the More to the right The House Freedom Caucus were Donald Trump’s most trusted supporters and strongest advocates in Congress during his presidency.
But many are holding off on an official endorsement of his third run for the White House, at least for now.
These are not just Republican members of Congress. Of the approximately three dozen current members of the Freedom Caucus who were in office on January 6, 2021, all but two voted to overturn the election results in hopes of keeping Trump in power after the attack on the US Capitol, easily the highest percentage from any group in Congress. However, of those members, only 12 have so far announced their support for Trump’s re-election.
Meanwhile, a handful of Freedom Caucus members, including Reps. Bob Good, R-Va., Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., Ken Buck, R-Colo., Andy Harris, R-Md., and Chip Roy, R- Texas, were seen entering an event at the Capitol on Tuesday with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a founding member of the caucus. Buck and Roy were the two current members who voted against overturning the election results on Jan. 6, with Roy endorsing DeSantis, who has yet to enter the race.
While Trump has improved his standing in early primary polls and is beginning to garner more endorsements from lawmakers, particularly in DeSantis’ backyard, the fact that so many Freedom Caucus members are still on the sidelines is remarkable, even this early in the Republican Party nominating contest. . It reflects lingering Republican uncertainty about the best candidate to take on President Joe Biden, even as Trump remains popular with the conservative base.
“I think a lot of them are where a lot of Republican voters are,” former Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a co-founder of the Freedom Caucus who also served in a variety of roles in the Trump administration, said of the current members. «They loved his policies, and they can’t stand the Biden administration, but they’re tired of all the bullshit and baggage that comes with Trump.»
“They won’t support it; they will not oppose him,” continued Mulvaney, who has been openly critical of his former boss. “They just want him to go away. And, most importantly, they think he’s probably the only Republican he could lose to Biden.»
Several Freedom Caucus members who spoke to NBC News kept their cards close.
“I think it’s prudent to know what the field of candidates looks like on both sides and what their priorities are before I voice my support,” said Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tennessee, who endorsed Trump in 2016 and 2020. is not endorsing anyone until 2024.»
Rep. Ben Cline, a Virginia Republican, also said he has no plans to endorse any time soon.
“I’m watching the field develop,” he said. Asked if he feels any pressure from the Trump team, he said he could not comment on any contact he has had with the campaign.
Cline and DesJarlais are among about two dozen current members of the Freedom Caucus who have yet to weigh in on the primary race (the group does not maintain a public list of its members). Included in that group are key Trump allies like Rep. Scott Perry, R-Penn., the Freedom Caucus chair who did everything possible to keep Trump in office after his defeat in the 2020 election.
However, among the members who have endorsed the candidates up to this point, Trump is by far the favorite. About a third of the ultra-conservative caucus in the House, including allies such as Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have publicly endorsed Trump’s candidacy. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, one of DeSantis’ top targets, rocked the primary race by endorsing Trump.
Speaking with NBC News, Greene said he has been pushing his peers to join Trump.
«Of course. I’m probably one of the most pro-Trump members of Congress here, unapologetically,» he said. «I think he did a great job for the country and his four-year administration, and I will ask everyone to support him.» President Trump. And Ron DeSantis, he hasn’t declared yet that he will run for president. It looks like he will, at least everyone says he will, except him.»
One House conservative, a former member of the Freedom Caucus who asked to remain anonymous to describe the pressure he faces to endorse, said he has been bombarded with text messages from Trump’s team.
«It’s inevitable that they just confront me and ask me,» the lawmaker said. “I just think it’s too soon. We don’t know how everything will turn out. I’m expecting calls from both camps at any moment, and I’m just trying to keep my head down.»
Some additional members of the Freedom Caucus could soon come out to endorse the former president as well. Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, said in an email that he spent time with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month and discussed Trump’s candidacy, adding: «He knows what he’s up to.» my position regarding the presidential race. .”
“I am a supporter of the America First and Make America Great Again policy and I think we need a president who drives that agenda forward,” he said.
But the silence among other caucus members, even at this early stage in the race, is drawing attention.
“He realizes that the members of the Freedom Caucus are not endorsing Trump right now,” said former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican and NBC News contributor. “Here are all these Freedom Caucus members who wrapped around Trump and now that he has declared himself a candidate for president, they didn’t officially endorse him.”
«So you have this weird dynamic where the Freedom Caucus publicly raises money in Trump’s name and constantly mentions that Trump gets a raw deal, but they won’t endorse him,» he added. “Most of them were chosen by Trump.”
McCrory attributed his hesitancy to endorse the former president this cycle to the club for growththat he spent heavily against McCrory in his Senate primary last year, suggesting that the right-wing anti-tax group is «going after a former Liberty Caucus member named DeSantis» after getting into a fight with Trump in the last cycle.
“The only presidential candidate we have a problem with” with the endorsement of a member of Congress “is Joe Biden,” David McIntosh, who runs The Club for Growth PAC, said in a statement.
While other Freedom Caucus members hold their fire, only Roy and Ralph Norman, RS.C. — who backs Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations — have come out in favor of candidates other than Trump. That could change when DeSantis, who is expected to enter the race in the coming months, approaches his decision or makes it official.
“Donald Trump had near unanimous Republican support in 2020 and every voice not behind him is now a defection,” Erin Perrine, a spokeswoman for the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down PAC, said in a statement. “Trump only has ground to lose in endorsements, while Governor DeSantis, who is not even an announced candidate, continues to have a growing support base.”
Norman, who said he spoke to Trump before endorsing Haley and that the former president was «very nice» and «very forgiving» about it, said there is still plenty of time for the campaign to shake up. Case in point: In the 2016 primary, Trump was still two months away from announcing his candidacy at this point in the cycle. He added that the party is «very fortunate and blessed to have a number of candidates who pretty much follow the policies of Donald Trump.»
With candidates and potential candidates up and down the ballot embracing Trump’s political agenda, the differentiator could simply be choosing who is more capable of defeating Biden.
“Everyone is pretty much on the same page” on politics, Norman added of the Republican camp, adding that members are considering “who can beat Joe Biden, and it shouldn’t be that hard to beat Joe Biden with his record.”
«If the Conservatives don’t win the 2024 election… then we’ve pretty much made it as a free republic,» he said. «That weighs on all of us.»
Some of the resistance can be strategic, whether it’s members hoping for some kind of benefit or a campaign withholding an endorsement so it can launch with maximum impact. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NBC News earlier this week that the campaign is «strategically deploying endorsements to coincide with events we host.»
“There is a strategic way to do it to get the most out of your investment,” he added. “We are being very aware of that; we are being very deliberate. There is a plan for all of this.»
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
Rep. Alex Mooney, RW.Va., who has already endorsed Trump this cycle and is endorsed by The Club for Growth in his Senate bid, said he hopes more colleagues in the Freedom Caucus will endorse Trump soon.
«There’s an old-fashioned saying that people like to be asked, asked and then sometimes ask for something in return,» he said. “As in my case, I would love an endorsement. Some people may have difficult primaries and would like your support. But I’m really focused on my career, obviously.»