After months of staying silent, Gardner backs Trump

It’s far from a rousing endorsement. At El Paso County Republican fundraiser Friday night Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner said: “I’m voting republican up and down the ticket. A Republican president will make a difference, even a Republican president named Donald Trump.”

GOP voter Candi Boyer believes Gardner did the right thing.

“As a republican, we should support who the party elected at our convention and present a united front,” Boyer said. “I believe that’s the only way we’re going to win the election.”

Gardner’s decision to back Trump comes just a few months after he blasted the GOP presidential nominee on Twitter for not coming to Colorado to compete for delegates at the state convention.

Conservative blogger Aaron Gardner, a #NeverTrump supporter from the start is disappointed.

“I really do wish Sen. Gardner had held back and taken a page from Sen. Cruz’s playbook and waited and said maybe we just vote our conscience,” Aaron said.

After a number of calls to the Gardner’s team for an interview, we were told he was unavailable.

In a statement to our newsroom Gardner said: “No good Republican could ever support Hillary Clinton for President, a Clinton presidency would be a continuation of the failed policies of the Obama Administration. If elected, Clinton would change the direction of the Supreme Court for generations to come. Our nation stands at a critical juncture and that’s why it is more important than ever to keep and grow the Republican majorities in the US Senate and House of Representatives, and support the entire Republican ticket in November. I’ll continue to work tirelessly for the people of Colorado and hold those in Washington accountable – Republican or Democrat.”

Elected in 2014, Gardner is not up until 2020. He was one of the first Republican senators to endorse in the primaries.

He came out in support of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in November of last year.