Trump calls on 'entire Republican Party to UNITE' around Bernie Moreno in race for Sen. Sherrod Brown's seat

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Former President Trump, the current GOP front-runner ahead of the 2024 election, on Tuesday endorsed Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate in Ohio amid a crowded Republican field vying to unseat Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown. 

"It’s time for the entire Republican Party to UNITE around Bernie’s campaign for Senate, so that we can have a BIG victory in what will be the most important Election in American History," Trump wrote on TRUTH Social Tuesday afternoon. "Bernie is the Father of wonderful Emily, the wife of outstanding young Ohio Congressman, Max Miller. Bernie is Strong on the Border, Crime, Cutting Taxes, Election Integrity, the Military / Vets, and will always protect our under siege 2nd Amendment. Bernie Moreno will be an outstanding United States Senator, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement—He will never let you down!"

In a second post, Trump went on to say, "Bernie Moreno, a highly respected businessman from the GREAT State of Ohio, is exactly the type of MAGA fighter that we need in the United States Senate. Bernie will always stand up to the Fascist ‘nut jobs’ and the spineless RINOS in order to fight the corrupt Deep State that is destroying our Country."

"Remember, we need a successful political outsider like Bernie to defeat Liberal career politician, Sherrod Brown, who has so poorly represented Ohio, and pretends that he’s all for the Policies of your Favorite President, Donald J. Trump, but then gets to the Senate and votes 100% for the horrendous Policies of Crooked Joe Biden, the worst President in the History of our Country," Trump wrote.

OHIO'S BERNIE MORENO ANNOUNCES SECOND STRAIGHT GOP SENATE RUN IN BID TO FLIP BLUE STATE RED

Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno of Ohio (right) is joined by GOP Sen. JD Vance of Ohio (left), at a campaign stop in New Albany, OH, on Nov. 21, 2023 (Bernie Moreno Senate campaign )

"Don’t be fooled by Sherrod Brown. He is a Radical Left Liberal who will always let you down. He does not stand for Ohio Values, and never will. Bernie Moreno, on the other hand, will ALWAYS put America First," Trump said. 

Trump's endorsement could give Moreno an advantage over other Republican primary candidates including Frank LaRose, who serves as Ohio’s secretary of state, and state Sen. Matt Dolan. 

The winner of next year’s GOP primary will challenge Brown, who’s the only Democrat to win statewide in Ohio in the past decade. Brown will be heavily targeted by Republicans in a state that was once a premiere general election battleground but has shifted red over the past six years.

Former President Trump gestures at the end of a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on Dec. 19, 2023.  (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

TRUMP ALLY SEN JD VANCE ENDORSES IN OHIO'S 2024 GOP SENATE PRIMARY, BACKING BERNIE MORENO

A successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership giant, Moreno launched his second straight bid for U.S. Senate in Ohio in April, touting himself as an outsider and a conservative. 

Moreno, an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally from Colombia with his family as a five-year-old boy, made border security a top issue during his 2022 Senate campaign and visited the U.S.-Mexico border. He shelled out millions of his own money to run TV commercials to try and boost his first Senate bid, but he suspended his campaign in February last year after requesting and holding a private meeting with Trump.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, speaks with members of the media following a rail safety event in Columbus, Ohio, US, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.  (Maddie McGarvey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The crowded and combustible 2022 GOP Senate nomination in Ohio was eventually won by former hedge fund executive and best-selling author JD Vance, who landed Trump’s endorsement just before last May’s primary. Vance went on to defeat longtime Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan in last November’s general election to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman. 

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Dolan — whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians — also shelled out millions of dollars of his own money to run ads for his 2022 Senate bid. He surged near the end of the primary race, coming in third, behind Vance and just behind former state Treasurer Josh Mandel.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.