Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is expected to endorse former President Donald Trump in his 2024 White House bid at a rally in her home state on Friday, multiple sources have confirmed to Fox.
Another source told Fox there would be little reason for Trump to travel to South Dakota other than to get Noem’s endorsement considering the deep-red state is not part of the early primary contests and not typically competitive in a general election.
“The question isn’t whether Donald Trump wins South Dakota, the only question is how massive is the margin,” the source said.
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Noem, whose national recognition has grown in recent years, was previously considering her own run for the White House, but appears to have ultimately decided against tossing her hat into the already crowded GOP primary field. Her name has been mentioned as a potential nominee for vice president.
She joins a number of other Republican governors who have already thrown their support behind Trump months before any votes are set to be cast in the primaries and caucuses, including South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Noem declined to endorse any presidential candidate during an interview in June, but said at the time that she didn’t see a “path to victory” for anyone but Trump.
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In the interview Noem revealed she’d had discussions about the 2024 election with presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who she said had asked for her support. She called him a “good guy” who was “working hard.”
Noem is also the latest high-profile endorsement Trump has gotten since his fourth, and most recent indictment on criminal charges. He surrendered to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia last month on charges related to his alleged effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.