By Nick Gass
02/24/16
"
We don't need a policy wonk as president. We need a leader as president," California Rep. Duncan Hunter said of Donald Trump.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO on Wednesday that he will support Trump for the Republican nomination, making him one of the first members of Congress to express public support for the Manhattan businessman who is the prohibitive front-runner after his victory in Tuesday's Nevada caucuses.
Also on Wednesday, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told The Buffalo News that he is backing Trump, saying he has the "guts and fortitude" to get jobs back from China and to take on foreign threats such as the Islamic State and North Korea.
In an interview on Wednesday, Hunter told POLITICO that Trump has the strength needed for the job. "We don't need a policy wonk as president. We need a leader as president," Hunter said, adding that he has told his colleagues much of the same thing.
"I'm in, and I've been in," he said in a telephone interview.
Noting that he and Trump see eye-to-eye on a number of issues, including border security, manufacturing and national security, Hunter said he also likes Trump for another reason. "I don't think Trump wants my endorsement," Hunter said, while also remarking that he has not heard from the candidate himself. "And that's one reason why I like him," he added. Trump said earlier Wednesday that "endorsements mean very little."
Hunter sponsored legislation last year that became known by its opponents as the Donald Trump Act, which would have forced local law enforcement in sanctuary cities to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they had an undocumented immigrant in custody.
Hunter, a former Marine, was elected to Congress in 2008, taking over the seat of his father, Duncan L. Hunter, who had an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008.
"I've liked Trump since the beginning," Hunter said, and he hinted that other members of Congress might secretly support Trump as well.
"I think you have more Trump supporters in Congress. They just have to come out of the closet, so to speak," he said.
A spokeswoman for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/02/duncan-hunter-endorses-donald-trump-219725#ixzz41731b4pL
