Former President Donald Trump formally announced his third bid in as many cycles for president amid potential divided GOP support, with some blaming him for midterm losses, while Democrats say he’s unfit to serve.
Trump announces 2024 presidential bid
Former President Donald Trump, 74, officially announced on Tuesday evening his campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, with an aim to become only the second commander-in-chief ever elected into nonconsecutive terms.
“In order to make America great and glorious again… I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said to a crowd of supporters during a speech at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home, where his campaign will be headquartered, CNN and Fox reported.
During his speech, Trump hammered Biden over the economy, inflation, energy prices, the border, and crime.
GOP support for Trump
“If President Trump continues this tone and delivers this message on a consistent basis, he will be hard to beat,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted. “His speech tonight, contrasting his policies and results against the Biden Administration, charts a winning path for him in the primaries and general election.”
Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee called Trump’s speech “pitch perfect.”
“I think he’s going to be unbeatable if he stays in this message,” Huckabee told Newsmax.
Some Republicans blame Trump for midterm losses, signs of diminished GOP support
The failure of the anticipated “red wave” during last week’s midterms saw some in the GOP placing the blame for the losses squarely on former president Trump.
Some of the GOP had also expressed a desire that Trump withholds making any announcement of a presidential bid until after the December 6 runoff in Georgia, a key Senate seat for Republicans.
Winsome Earle-Sears, Virginia’s Republican lieutenant governor and once a vocal Trump supporter, said: “The voters have spoken, and they have said that they want a different leader,” the Associated Press reported. “A true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage. It is time to move on.”
No previously impeached president has ever run for office.
Trump comments on DeSantis anger some
Trump angered some Republicans, as well as some voters, when he recently referred to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious,” calling him “an average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations,” the Blaze reported. Trump went further, saying that he will reveal “things about him that won’t be very flattering” if DeSantis runs for president.
Poll shows 65% not in favor of Trump presidential bid
A recent poll by Politico-Morning Consult found 53% of registered voters believe former President Donald Trump should “definitely not” run for president again, with another 12% saying “no, probably not,” with a combined total of 65% not in favor of a Trump presidential bid.
Former VP Pence on Trump 2024, says GOP will “have better choices”
Former vice president Mike Pence was asked for his reaction on Trump’s presidential bid ahead of the official announcement, and he responded that he felt different times called for “different leadership,” Breitbart reported
“I think it’s time that we had leadership in this country that reflected that commitment to respect for every American,” Pence said.
The interviewer asked Pence if he would vote for Trump.
“Well, I just — I honestly believe that we’re going to have better choices,” Pence replied.
Republican Texas senators Cruz and Cornyn signaled an openness to other GOP presidential candidates, the Texas Tribune reported.
“I’m sure I’ll support the nominee of the Republican Party, but I think there’s likely to be a competitive primary election,” Cornyn told reporters.
“We’re going to have a process, we’re going to have a primary, we’re going to have a debate,” Cruz said. “I think we accomplished a lot of good things when Donald Trump was president. If he’s the nominee, I’ll enthusiastically support him.”
Liz Cheney “confident…unfit” Trump will never be president again
Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) said ahead of Trump’s campaign announced she was “confident” he would never be president again, the Hill reported.
“It’s important for people to look at what’s happening and what he’s doing, not just through a political lens, but through the basic facts of his total lack of fitness for office,” Cheney said. “The Jan. 6 committee has laid out very clearly his direct and personal involvement in every aspect of the plan to overturn the last election.”
“While that bloody battle was underway at the Capitol, despite everyone around him pleading with him to tell the mob to stop and go home, he wouldn’t do it,” Cheney added. “There’s no question that he’s unfit for office, and I feel confident that he will never be president again.”
