Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Tuesday that he would vote for Donald Trump for president if Trump becomes the GOP nominee.
The former presidential candidate previously endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Though Jindal spent the majority of his failed campaign for the Republican nomination last year attacking Trump , as the Times-Picayune reported, he has consistently said he will vote in the general election for whichever candidate secures the party’s nomination.
“Jindal spent much of his own presidential campaign criticizing Trump as a unsuitable candidate for the Republican Party. In the past, he has referred to Trump as an ‘egomaniac’ who was ‘devoid of substance’ and ‘dangerous.’”
He had previously dodged the question by saying that he didn’t believe Trump had a chance to win the nomination. Now, with the billionaire real estate mogul sweeping primaries in state after state, it seems Jindal is ready to change his tune. Jindal told CNN ‘s Brooke Baldwin that though he found the heated words between Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz before Indiana’s primary “disgusting,” Trump was likely to win Indiana, and that he would vote for them if he won the nomination.
“I think it’s likely, this election, this nomination contest could be all but over by tonight. I think it’s more and more likely that Donald Trump will be the nominee,” he said to CNN .
Bobby Jindal Says Planned Parenthood Is Doomed If Hillary Clinton Loses Elections https://t.co/dWvi0Gcudy pic.twitter.com/IkQ5eiedMF
— Boyce Watkins, PhD – Wealth is Power (@drboycewatkins1) April 7, 2016
Jindal noted that while plenty of Republicans were anxious for better options, in a general election against Hillary Clinton, he would vote for Trump.
“Having said that, third, however, if he is the nominee I will be voting for him, I will be supporting him,” Jindal added , according to Politico . “If it comes down to a binary choice between Donald Trump, I’m supporting the party’s nominee. I’m not happy about it. I don’t think he’s the best qualified, I don’t think he’s the one most likely to be successful, but I would vote for him over Hillary Clinton.”
Jindal also expressed his opinion that Donald Trump will have the hardest time of any of the Republican presidential contenders beating Hillary Clinton, but stood his ground in saying Trump would be the best choice. Jindal explained that at least with Trump there was a chance he would appoint a conservative to the Supreme Court and repeal Obamacare, whereas there was zero chance with Hillary.
The former governor also told CNN he found it “ironic” that Ted Cruz was attacking Trump when he had positive things to say about him as recently as December.
“I was worried about the rise of the Donald Trump,” Jindal added. “I think it’s ironic, Ted Cruz was one of the last people to continue to embrace him, to defend him, as recently as December… so I think it’s ironic he’s one of the last candidates to go now actually after Donald Trump now that he stands between him and the nomination.”
Bobby Jindal: I will be voting for Trump if he is GOP nominee https://t.co/oD0RN18Ml9 pic.twitter.com/6FdJ5Hp8m4
— The Hill (@thehill) May 3, 2016
Jindal did have some praise for Trump. Even though he doesn’t believe that Trump is truly a conservative, he noted that his message is clearly speaking to voters.
“Donald Trump’s no conservative,” Jindal said, according to Breitbart , “but I think that is actually one of the reasons, Brooke, he’s doing so well. We conservatives have a job to do. We’ve got to go back and do a better job of explaining our beliefs and our principles to the voters.”
Bobby Jindal served as the governor of Louisiana for eight years before launching a campaign for president in June of last year, but ended his run in November after failing to gain any traction with voters. He left office in January and has kept a relatively low profile since then.
[Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images]