**Trump 2024 Bid Picks Up Seventh Senator's Endorsement**

Trump 2024 Bid Picks Up Seventh Senator's Endorsement

_Authored by Frank Fang via The Epoch Times (https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-2024-bid-picks-up-seventh-senators-endorsement_5194314.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge) (emphasis ours),_

**Former President Donald Trump picked up his seventh Senate endorsement on April 13**, with Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) backing Trump’s third bid for the White House in 2024.

“Just a few years ago America was strong, but now **under Joe Biden, we are a nation in decline**,” Budd said in a statement (https://tedbudd.com/ted-budd-endorses-president-trump/). “Our economy is faltering, our wide-open southern border is tragically wrecking lives, and our country’s power and influence in the world is diminished.”

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_Republican Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina is ceremonially sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris for the 118th Congress in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 3, 2023. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)_ (?itok=desikCJh)

In contrast, Budd said, the Trump-led America was much different.

“ **Under President Trump, our economy saw record-setting growth, and families were starting to get ahead.** Neighborhoods were safer,” Budd said. “Across the globe, we were achieving peace. We were respected by allies and feared by enemies.

“That’s why I endorse Donald J. Trump for President,” Budd added. “ **Hardworking, everyday families need a return of the America First agenda to restore prosperity and peace.**”

The six other GOP senators who have endorsed (https://www.theepochtimes.com/mississippi-senator-endorses-trump-the-night-before-his-arraignment_5171796.html) Trump’s presidential bid are Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).

**Budd Endorsement**

Budd, a former House lawmaker, defeated (https://www.theepochtimes.com/ted-budd-claims-north-carolinas-open-senate-seat-for-republicans_4831881.html) Democrat Cheri Beasley to win North Carolina’s 2022 Senate race. Budd was endorsed (https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-endorses-rep-ted-budd-as-lara-trump-announces-she-will-not-run-for-senate_3846231.html) by Trump before his November election victory, paving the way for his GOP primary win (https://www.theepochtimes.com/rep-ted-budd-wins-senate-republican-primary-in-north-carolina_4458922.html) over former North Carolina governor, Pat McCrory.

Like many Republicans, Budd has criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against Trump.

“The Manhattan DA’s partisan prosecution of President Trump is a disgrace,” Budd wrote (https://twitter.com/SenTedBuddNC/status/1641561762615967745) on Twitter on March 30. “NYC has a real problem with violent crime. Instead of spending so much time targeting his political enemies, Alvin Bragg should focus on doing his job to keep the people of NYC safe.”

On April 4, the former president was charged (https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-charged-with-felony-level-falsifying-business-records-pleads-not-guilty_5170484.html) with 34 accounts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty (https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-pleads-not-guilty-to-historic-indictment_5171748.html) to all charges and stated that Bragg has “no case (https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-declares-new-york-da-has-no-case-in-first-statement-after-pleading-not-guilty_5172653.html)” against him.

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_Former President Donald Trump appears in court at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4, 2023. (Steven Hirsch/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)_ (?itok=EAXA02yb)

Budd introduced his first bill (https://twitter.com/SenTedBuddNC/status/1625525410296373248) as a senator in February, when he and other GOP senators introduced the Build the Wall Now Act (S.422 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/422/text?s=1&r=54)) in an attempt to address the border crisis.

“P **resident Biden has created the worst border crisis in American history.** Instead of taking steps to solve this crisis, the Biden administration has tried to run out the regulatory clock on border wall construction,” Budd said in a statement (https…

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-2024-bid-picks-seventh-senators-endorsement