U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik urged other Republican presidential candidates to exit the 2024 race following Donald Trump’s romp in the Iowa caucus Tuesday and encouraged them to rally around the former president.
According to the Associated Press, Trump won around 51% of the votes in Iowa, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis around 21%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley just above 19% and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy just under 8%.
“As I have said for over a year, President Trump will be our Republican nominee and will defeat Joe Biden in November. I am calling on every other candidate - all of whom have no chance to win - to drop out so we can unify and immediately rally behind President Trump so that we can focus 100% of our resources on defeating Joe Biden to Save America,” Stefanik said in a statement late Tuesday night.
The northern New York congresswoman, who is also the chair of House GOP conference, the third highest ranking Republican in Congress, has been a staunch supporter of Trump since he won the presidency. Indeed, Stefanik endorsed Trump for the White House in 2024 before he even formally announced another run back in 2022.
Stefanik’s sentiment was echoed by her superior, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said Trump's historic showing in Iowa “should move our Party closer to uniting so we can achieve the ultimate victory in November,” he said in a statement.
Another prominent supporter of Trump in New York’s Republican delegation, Rep. Claudia Tenney, endorsed Trump in his third presidential bid earlier this month.