If there was still any doubt whether the Trump juggernaut can be stopped before, if not so much after the Michigan primary earlier this week, it can be laid to rest now because shortly after Trump received the endorsement of Chris Christie, the real estate mogul has now secured his second highest profile backing, that of Ben Carson who according to the Washington Post will endorse Trump officially on Friday morning.
According to WaPo, the endorsement "was finalized Thursday morning when Carson met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury club owned by the Republican front-runner, the people said. The sources requested anonymity to discuss private conversations."
Friday’s announcement will also take place at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., where the onetime rivals will appear alongside one another at a news conference.
The endorsement comes at a critical time for Trump, who will almost certainly become undefeatable if he wins the upcoming Florida and Michigan "winner take all" primaries.
As WaPo adds, the support of Carson, a famed retired neurosurgeon and author, will likely give Trump a boost with GOP base voters and evangelicals, who embraced Carson’s campaign in its early days and fueled his brief rise to the top of Republican primary polls.
Carson’s decision may surprise some of his backers since Trump made blistering critiques over the past year of stories from Carson’s past. But according to people close to him, Carson has gradually come to see Trump as the GOP’s best chance of winning a general election and turning out droves of disengaged voters.
The endorsement will probably not come as a big surprise, because earlier today on Fox News radio, Carson hinted that he is “certainly leaning” toward a candidate and spoke highly of Trump.
“There’s two Donald Trumps. There’s the Donald Trump that you see on television and who gets out in front of big audiences, and there’s the Donald Trump behind the scenes,” he said. “They’re not the same person. One’s very much and entertainer, and one is actually a thinking individual.”
And now we await tonight's seemingly token GOP debate, which just like last time, will showcase Trump knowing he has a critical endorsement in the bag, and will surely crush his already demoralized competitors.