WASHINGTON — After months of dancing around the issue, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner has declared his support for Donald Trump — although it’s hardly a ringing endorsement.
At a Republican event on Friday in Colorado Springs, Gardner told fellow party members that he planned to vote for every GOP candidate on the ballot, including Trump, a politician Gardner once called a “buffoon.”
“I’m voting Republican up and down the ticket. A Republican president will make a difference, even a Republican president named Donald Trump,” said Gardner in comments first reported by The Gazette of Colorado Springs.
A 98-word statement released Tuesday by Gardner confirmed his support, although it didn’t mention Trump by name.
“Our nation stands at a critical juncture, and that’s why it is more important than ever to keep and grow the Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and support the entire Republican ticket in November,” Gardner said. “I’ll continue to work tirelessly for the people of Colorado and hold those in Washington accountable — Republican or Democrat.”
Gardner’s decision to publicly back Trump is a small bit of good news for a campaign that’s hit a rough patch in recent weeks.
Polls have shown momentum for Hillary Clinton — she’s up 11 percentage points in Colorado, according to a Real Clear Politics average of recent surveys — and dozens of Republican officials are urging the Republican National Committee to suspend spending on Trump’s behalf and direct its resources toward other races.
Why Gardner decided to suddenly switch gears is an open question. The 41-year-old lawmaker enthusiastically backed the presidential campaign of Marco Rubio before the Florida senator dropped out, and then he supported Ted Cruz when the Texas senator mounted a last-ditch effort to stop Trump in the waning weeks of the GOP primary.
Since then, Gardner has stayed mum and largely out of the spotlight. During the Republican National Convention last month in Cleveland, Gardner left long before Trump delivered his acceptance speech and he said at the time that he supported Colorado’s delegation — which made national headlines by leading a failed attempt to stop Trump’s nomination.
Gardner’s low profile makes sense when seen through the prism of Colorado’s changing political scene.
In 2014, Gardner defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Udall by running a campaign that took a cheerful tone to politicking and a middle-of-the-road approach to politics.
It’s a strategy that makes sense given the rise of independent and Democratic voters in the state but one that could prove troublesome if Gardner runs for re-election in 2020 and faces a primary challenge from the right.
Backing Trump — even at this late hour — could insulate him from GOP criticism that he sat on the sidelines this year, although it may prompt attacks from the left in a way similar to how Democrats have targeted U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora. Coffman has distanced himself from Trump but has not ruled out voting for him.
