South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy on Tuesday officially endorsed Marco Rubio for president, giving the Florida senator a high-profile backer in a key early voting state.
Rubio’s campaign all but said Gowdy would back him when it sent word this weekend that the congressman would campaign with the presidential candidate, and Gowdy officially blessed him Tuesday in Clinton, Iowa.
“It’s not my job to tell you who to vote for, but I am going to tell you who I am going to vote for. And I’m gonna tell you why. I’m going to vote for Marco Rubio,” he said, emphasizing the senator’s national security expertise as a contrast with President Barack Obama’s. “Our founding fathers did not give us a commander in chief to fill out March madness basketball brackets or to sample golf courses on the eastern seaboard.”
Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor, is perhaps best known for leading the recent House investigation into the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks. His endorsement gives Rubio another top backer in the Palmetto State, where much of Rubio’s political operation already has deep experience.