Trey Gowdy endorses Marco Rubio during Iowa campaign stop

U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, endorsed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Tuesday during a campaign stop in Iowa.

“The son of a bartender and the son of a housekeeper, who knows what it means to live the American Dream,” said Gowdy during a seven-minute speech in Clinton, Iowa. “I found my candidate. It’s Marco Rubio.”

Gowdy, chairman of the House Benghazi committee, is scheduled to appear with Rubio at several campaign events throughout Iowa. Gowdy said “there is nobody better” on national security and public safety than Rubio.

“When I say national security, I mean border security, interior security and I mean employment security,” he said. “And if I did not think Marco Rubio was good on border security, interior security and employment security, I would have kept myself in South Carolina. I wouldn’t be in Iowa right now.”

Recent polls have Rubio in third place in Iowa, behind Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. He’s expected to campaign Tuesday and Wednesday in the Hawkeye State, attending town hall events across the state.