Story highlights "The voters of our country have turned out in record numbers to support Mr. Trump," Dole said

Earlier Friday, former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Trump

(CNN) Former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican nominee Bob Dole endorsed Donald Trump for president on Friday, calling for the GOP to unite around Trump in order to defeat Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee.

Dole's support gives the GOP presumptive nominee the support of another party elder on a day when other top Republicans announced their opposition. Trump inconspicuously announced the endorsement earlier on Friday at a rally in Omaha, Nebraska, as he ticked off the names of several prominent Republicans who have come around to his candidacy since he became the party's presumptive nominee earlier this week.

"The voters of our country have turned out in record numbers to support Mr. Trump. It is important that their votes be honored and it is time that we support the party's presumptive nominee, Donald J. Trump," Dole said in a statement released by Trump's campaign. "I plan to attend the RNC convention in Cleveland to show my support for our party and our ticket, as I have done my entire life. We must unite as a party to defeat Hillary Clinton."

In the same statement, Trump thanked Dole and said "he is a wonderful man and it is a great honor to have his support."

Earlier Friday, former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Trump, while former 2016 candidates Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham said they wouldn't vote in the election, part of a growing rift in the party over Trump's emergence as the Republican standard-bearer.

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