A former Republican presidential candidate who fiercely opposed former President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign before dropping out has now re-emerged to endorse his prior rival.

Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal just explained in a series of social media posts why he is now openly supporting the re-election bid of the man he once bitterly opposed, The Messenger reported.

In short, Jindal determined that the upsides of Trump's policies and past successes on various issues, especially in comparison to incumbent President Joe Biden, outweighed the downsides of Trump's at-times abrasive personality and other shortcomings.

"Full and complete endorsement"

"I just had a great conversation with President Trump, and I told him that he has my full and complete endorsement to win back the White House and Make America Great Again!" Jindal wrote to begin a 20-part thread on X-Twitter.

"President Trump brought order to the Mid-East by standing with our friends and refusing to coddle terrorists. President Trump was tough on Iran, first withdrawing from Obama’s foolish Iran deal, then reimposing sanctions," he continued. "He cutoff taxpayer funding to terrorist supporting Palestinians, and he stood unapologetically with Israel. That’s the clarity of thought and leadership we need right now."

Jindal went on to note that Democrats, driven by their hatred of Trump, were "destroying our system of justice" and had "weaponized the government" against him and others who opposed them, and fostered an "obvious double standard" in the application of justice and laws.

He also highlighted Trump's correct focus on China as "America's top security threat," the unfairness of "one-sided trade deals," and the importance of appointing "transformational judges" to the federal judiciary.

Trump is the "warrior" that America needs "right now"

The former governor further pointed to Trump's successes, certainly in comparison to Biden and the Democrats, on things like border security and immigration, energy independence and jobs, and even taking on "crony capitalism" in various sectors of the economy.

"Trump will be the Republican nominee, and everyone knows that, especially the Democrats who are already spending millions attacking him in an attempt to destroy him," Jindal wrote as he urged fellow Republicans to stop "fighting amongst ourselves" and to "unite to win the general election," which served as a subtle call for other GOP candidates to drop out of the 2024 race.

"Lastly, and this is the most important thing -- WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING THIS COUNTRY.  The wolf is at the door, and this is true in terms of every issue, from economics, to culture, to foreign policy," he continued, and concluded, "Trump may not be warm and cuddly, but he is a warrior, and that is what we need right now."

Jindal's complete turnabout from bitter rival to supportive endorsement

RedState reported on former Gov. Jindal's thread endorsing former President Trump and likened it to the pronouncements of a man returning from exile, given how Jindal, once considered a rising star of the GOP, had all but entirely disappeared from the political arena after dropping out of the 2016 race.

The current endorsement is particularly notable given how virulently Jindal had opposed Trump during that previous election cycle, including by borrowing a page from his rival's own playbook and launching an array of "Trumpian" insults that failed to stop him from becoming the nominee.

Once it became clear in mid-2016 that Trump had won the Republican primary, Jindal begrudgingly extended his vote of support to the nominee as the "second-worst" option on the ballot behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

That comparative reasoning, this time with Biden instead of Clinton, is likely a factor in his current calculus in deciding to actually endorse the former president for a second term, and it will be interesting to see if that show of support is rewarded by Trump, assuming he wins re-election, with some sort of high-level cabinet post in a future administration.