as Donald Trump Another considers running the White House, polls show he’s most popular person Republican Party, But it wasn’t always like this.
Competing at one point against a dozen rivals for the presidential nomination in 2016, Trump won only one-third of the vote in key initial states. He also lost in Iowa, which kicks off the nomination process.
But he won because those in the party who opposed his brand of divisive politics were never able to unite around a single rival. That same dynamic could repeat itself as Trump mounts a new bid for the presidency as soon as this summer.
With a growing list of candidates ready to run, even one Trump fell short of two impeachments and growing legal vulnerabilities could hold a commanding position in a fragmented, multi-candidate primary.
Republican strategist Mike Duhaime said, “I’m afraid it could end just like 2016, which basically everyone thought everyone else should get out of.” “I think every major candidate felt he’d have a better shot at a one-on-one against Trump. But of course everyone thought he should be the one to get the shot and no one got out of the way.” ..and by then it was too late.”
Concerns are mounting as a growing list of potential rivals is making increasingly brazen moves, delivering high-profile speeches, running ads, attracting donors and making repeated visits to early-voting states. .
That group now includes more than a dozen potential candidates, including former Trump Vice President Mike Pence; his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and sans Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Rick Scott of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina. All could follow the policies of the former President.
In the anti-Trump lane, politicians such as Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Larry Hogan of Maryland Gov.
Ron DeSantis of Florida Gov. is clearly seen by even the most loyal supporters of Trump as Trump’s successor, and by Trump allies as his most formidable potential challenger.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and others have said they will not challenge Trump if they go ahead. But the others, including Christie, seem to be firing for the fight, even if they seem like long shots.
“I’m definitely looking at this seriously. I’m probably not going to make a decision until the end of the year,” Christie said in a recent interview. She asked the party to discuss Trump and his 2020 election. Urged to move on from the ongoing passion.
“For me, it is about the party going in a new direction from a personality standpoint, and continuing to have someone who can bring in the strong leadership, tough leadership that the country needs, but not all others. There is drama that goes with it,” he said. “I am hearing the same things from donors as I am hearing from voters – that they are very concerned that we will not be in a position to do anything other than the good of the country by 2024. can keep.”
Pompeo, who has a busy travel schedule and plans to return to Iowa this summer, said in a recent interview that he is spending time reading and listening to President Ronald Reagan’s speeches as he prepares for a possible race. Huh.
“We are getting ready to stay in the fight,” he said last month while saluting evangelical Christians at a gathering in Nashville, Tennessee.
He said that he and his wife would sit down after the November elections and “think about us through it, pray our way through it, and decide where it is best to serve. It will redo ourselves.” May present for elected office. We may choose another path. But we are not shying away from the things I have been working on for 30 years. They mean a lot.”
Pompeo sketched a possible approach similar to Trump’s.
“He was a disruptor who was most needed in 2016, no doubt about it,” Pompeo said. “And now the task is to take those sets of understandings, sets of principles, and defend them and build on them. And it’s going to take a lot of work, leaders of real perseverance and character to do that.”
Such open talk comes as Trump faces growing legal troubles.
The Congressional Committee investigating the January 6 uprising has uncovered increasingly damaging information about Trump’s final week in office. The Justice Department has its own investigation. In Georgia, the prosecutor investigating Trump’s possible illegal interference in the state’s 2020 election has intensified his investigation by summoning members of Trump’s inner circle. In New York, Trump, his eponymous son and his daughter Ivanka have agreed to answer questions under oath next week in the state attorney general’s civil investigation of their business practices.
Mick Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman who served as Trump’s acting White House chief of staff, said the move may have seen potential candidates “an opening where none existed two months ago.” was not.”
“Trump fatigue could be a real thing,” he said, with voters asking themselves whether, if they voted for another candidate, they could “get similar policies without the baggage.”
Trump, on the other hand, has seen some of his supported primary candidates falter. Those who have won, including Senate nominee JD Vance in Ohio and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, did so with nearly 30% of the vote, meaning two-thirds of the party’s voters were against the choice of Trump. Went.
“I don’t think anyone underestimates Trump. There’s a reason he’s the most sought-after endorsement in every single Republican primary,” said GOP strategist Alex Conant. “That said, I think a recognition That’s what a lot of Republican voters are looking forward to and ready to do next.”
To what extent remains an open question. During a visit to Iowa this week, Cotton declined to heed Trump’s stance. But the senator said he looks forward to being an effective national leader “not only for my party but for the American people in my role in the Senate and any other future role.”
Still, Cotton argued, candidates should embrace Trump’s legacy.
“I know Donald Trump is very popular among our voters, who appreciate the successes he has delivered for four years in a very hostile environment. They don’t want Republicans who are running against that legacy, because they want that legacy. See it as a huge success,” he said Thursday in Cambridge, Iowa.
6 hearing, the outcome of the abortion ban could affect Trump’s hopes of a comeback. why over here
Trump continues to go ahead with his own programs.
On Friday night, he campaigned in Las Vegas with Adam Laxault, his choice for the Nevada Senate. And on Saturday night, he planned a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, to campaign with Kelly Shibaka, whom he has supported in his race against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and others, including former Gov. Sarah Palin. , who is now running for Congress.
Conant said it makes sense for candidates to continue testing the waters for now.
“Many potential candidates are feeling that 2024 may be their last best chance, no matter what Trump does,” he said. “There’s a very weak Democrat in the White House, Republicans are likely to win, and if it’s not Trump, they’re basically sidelined for the next 10 years.”
Still, Conant, who served as communications director in Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential bid, noted similarities.
“It seems like it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are a lot of people running for president. And while I think there’s an appetite for something different, there’s a need to align with a candidate for an alternative to Trump.” It is,” he said. “It never happened in 2016. And it can’t happen in 2024.”
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