During the Republican presidential primary, the Tea Party Patriots said Ted Cruz was their guy and Donald Trump was not one of them.
Times have changed.
The super PAC aligned with the tea party organization announced Thursday they are officially endorsing Trump for president and will work to get their supporters out to the polls for the Republican nominee.
But in their statement, the group still sounds like their support for him is more based off of a distaste for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton than a love for Trump.
“Hillary Clinton stands opposed to everything the tea party stands for, on the policy, political, and personal fronts. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has pledged to fight to uphold our core values,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the chairman of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund. “In making a choice between the two of them, there is really no choice at all – we choose Trump.”
The endorsement is another sign that conservatives who have been reluctant to support Trump are, eventually, coming around to his side.
Speaking in March, Martin of the Tea Party Patriots said of Trump: “He loves himself more than our country. He loves himself more than the Constitution. He does not love you or me. He does not love the Tea Party. Donald Trump has no business thinking he is Tea Party.”
The group endorsed Cruz — Trump’s chief conservative rival — for president during the contentions primary. Cruz has not endorsed Trump.
On Thursday, the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund said they would focus their efforts to get out the vote for Trump in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida. The organization says it has 57,000 supporters in Pennsylvania, 48,000 supporters in Ohio, 37,000 supporters in North Carolina and 97,000 supporters in Florida.