Gowdy endorses Trump

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Friday endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“I endorse Donald Trump,” Gowdy told MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily.”

{mosads}“I was a [Marco] Rubio guy, and if Marco had won I would have expected the [Ted] Cruz supporters and the [John] Kasich supports and the Trump supporters to support my guy,” he added.

“My guy lost. When the jury speaks, I’m going to support the jury.”

Gowdy had previously said he will support the eventual GOP nominee, but had declined to specifically throw his support behind Trump.

Asked about his attitude toward Trump, Gowdy said that “I actually didn’t think I was that hesitant.” 

“I was a Rubio guy and Marco lost, but I will enthusiastically support the Republican nominee.”

His statement is a sign of further consolidation behind the billionaire New Yorker, who has faced persistent opposition from some Republicans.

Gowdy was a prominent supporter of Rubio late last year.

But despite endorsements from Gowdy and Gov. Nikki Haley, Rubio lost big in the South Carolina primary, a full 10 percentage points behind Trump.

Gowdy, who is popular among fellow Republicans, has been the target of intense ire from Democrats, who accuse him of overseeing a partisan witch hunt of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton through the House Select Committee on Benghazi.

Gowdy has denied that his effort is tied to politics in any way, and has accused the Obama administration of not being forthcoming about the events of the 2012 Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans.  

Trump angrily slammed Gowdy in December for endorsing Rubio, calling his committee’s hearings on Benghazi “a disaster” for the GOP.

“I hope @TGowdySC does better for Rubio than he did at the #Benghazi hearings, which were a total disaster for Republicans & America!” he tweeted at the time.

– Updated at 5:42 p.m.