‘This Thing Is Over’: Elected Republicans Line Up Behind Trump

The results in New Hampshire on Tuesday were not surprising, and neither was the Republican reaction to them.

Within minutes of the state’s Republican primary being called for former President Donald Trump, a parade of the party’s elected officials were declaring the race for the nomination over and urging Trump’s only remaining opponent, Nikki Haley, to end her campaign. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, has said that she will not do that, vowing to continue as the primary race moves to her home state.

A flood of Republicans called on the party to “unite,” “rally” and “come together” behind Trump. They included: Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Braun of Indiana and John Cornyn of Texas; Reps. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Byron Donalds of Florida, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota; and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas.

Also on that list was, notably, Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, which is officially neutral in primaries. McDaniel said on Fox News that the party should “unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump.”

The elected officials were more blunt. “This thing is OVER & we ALL know it,” Donalds declared on social media. It was a common refrain.

Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, who ended his own campaign for president in December, said “this primary is over.”

“The Republican primary is over,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, who defeated one of Trump’s most prominent opponents, Liz Cheney, in a primary in 2022.

“Over,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.

“Over,” said Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina.

In post after post on social media, Republicans said that any resistance to Trump’s nomination would be futile: a “charade” (Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas), a waste of resources (Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Reps. Mike Collins of Georgia and Cory Mills of Florida), or even an act of betrayal to the party.

“At this point Haley can either drop out or help the Democrats,” Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio said.

A lonely voice did speak against the tide — Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Haley’s most prominent supporter in the state, who in the weeks before the primary was omnipresent on her campaign.

Haley “turned the narrative of the national media on its head and proved this is indeed a two person race,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “And tonight, Granite State voters put wind in her sails as she heads off to her sweet home state of South Carolina.”

Polls show Haley trailing Trump by more than 35 points in South Carolina, which will hold its primary Feb. 24.

Sununu added in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday morning that he objected to McDaniel’s call to unite behind Trump after just two states had voted.

“The head of the Republican Party saying we don’t want to hear from all the other Republicans in the nation because it’s getting too close — that’s nonsense,” he said. “You got to let the voters decide, not a bunch of political elites out of D.C.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.