Duncan Hunter speaks from the House floor in 2012. Image from video
Duncan Hunter speaks from the House floor in 2012. Image from video

Admitting that Donald Trump doesn’t need his endorsement, fellow Republican Duncan D. Hunter offered his backing anyway, telling Politico: “We don’t need a policy wonk as president. We need a leader as president.”

Rep. Hunter of the 50th District, who has represented East San Diego County since 2009, said he has told his colleagues in Congress to join the bandwagon.

“I’m in, and I’ve been in,” he was quoted Wednesday as saying.

Hunter told Politico that he and Trump see eye-to-eye on border security, manufacturing and national security, and also likes Trump for another reason.

“I don’t think Trump wants my endorsement,” Hunter said. “And that’s one reason why I like him.”

Hunter can afford to take a chance on a nonestablishment candidate because his huge district is overwhelmingly Republican, and faces no serious challenge.

In late January, the Registrar of Voters Office posted registration figures showing Republicans edge Democrats in Hunter’s district 44 percent to 26 percent, with 24 percent of the 50th’s 289,227 voters listed as “decline to state.”

Hunter’s endorsement of Trump brought some reaction:

There is almost no difference in the Trump platform from the platform offered by Hunter’s father when he ran for President.

Posted by John Patrick Feehery on Wednesday, February 24, 2016

I like Duncan Hunter. I’m glad to see him come out for Trump instead of Rubio like most of the other “Tea Party” charlatans who have exposed themselves as Cuckservatives recently.

Posted by Daniel Roland Anderson on Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Duncan Hunter, a California Republican, has become the first from Congress to endorse Trump. No doubt he’s an ambitious…

Posted by Larry Hill on Wednesday, February 24, 2016