South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump Wednesday.
McMaster’s support represents the highest profile formal endorsement Trump has received from an elected official, in the crucial battleground state of South Carolina.
“South Carolina is going to have the most decisive presidential primary election this cycle,” McMaster said. “Vote for Donald Trump for president.”
“It’s not the dog in the fight that’s important, it’s the fight in the dog that’s important, and this dog has a lot of fight,” McMaster said.
McMaster’s endorsement is also a rebuff to the state’s governor, Nikki Haley, who criticized Trump in the official Republican State of the Union response.
McMaster has been lieutenant governor since January, and previously served as the state’s attorney general for eight years.
