A increasing number of well-known Republicans are warning that former President Trump shouldn’t run for office again in 2024 or that he will lose if he does, foreshadowing divisions within the party that will most certainly become clear after the midterm elections.
Recently, former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R), ex-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and ex-Vice President Mike Pence all said they’d like to see someone else on the ballot in the upcoming presidential race.
Ryan, Bush, and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) are three of the most vocal individuals, but they are no longer the party’s standard-bearers now that Trump has taken control. However, they still wield powerful megaphones, and their worries about a second Trump run, together with surveys suggesting that many voters are prepared to move on, highlight how the viability of Trump as a contender might influence how the 2024 primary field is shaped.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich noted that “some people like Trump and some people don’t like Trump” (R-Ga.). He is the party’s most powerful individual. It is a fact.
Pence was questioned last week at Georgetown University about whether he would support Trump if he were to run for president in 2024. Pence was previously a steadfastly devoted aide to Trump, but he has now distanced himself from him following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Pence grinned and replied, “Well, there could be someone else I’d prefer more.” Pence often travels to South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Iowa, and it is widely believed that he is laying the groundwork for his own campaign in 2024.
After several public disagreements with Trump, Ryan left the House in 2019. Earlier this month, he claimed that if Trump runs for office again in two years, it might cost Republicans the White House.
Ryan predicted that Trump’s unelectability would be apparent by that point. “Everyone is aware he will lose. Or, to put it another way, we all know he has a significantly higher chance of losing the presidency than any other candidate on our side of the aisle. Why then would we choose to do that?
In an interview with CNN last week, Bush, who unsuccessfully ran a primary challenge to Trump in 2016, expressed his belief that there will be “a yearning for, A, a new generation of leadership in our country in 2024 and, B, candidates that are focused on the future, not necessarily the grievances of the past.”
In part because of his distance from Trump, Joe O’Dea, the Republican candidate for the Colorado Senate, has gained support from people in the state, which is turning more and more blue. He too advocated against Trump being on the ballot in 2024 earlier this month.
O’Dea stated on CNN, “I don’t think Donald Trump should run again.” “I plan to vigorously oppose Donald Trump and ensure that we currently have four or five truly outstanding Republicans. Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis are all eligible to seek and hold office for eight years.
Trump shouldn’t run for office again, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hasn’t said that explicitly. However, in response to a question this summer on the possibility of the former president running for reelection in 2024, he projected “a full field” of Republican contenders.
In recent weeks, Trump has attracted a large number of fans to rallies in support of candidates in the tightest races in the Republican Party. Although the former president frequently suggests that he has made a choice and frequently jokes in speeches that he may have to “do it again,” he has not stated if he intends to run for office again in 2024.
There are still a lot of Trump supporters in Congress and other places who would be willing to supporting another Trump campaign.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who believes Trump has a “very decent chance” of winning in 2024, stated as much in September. Graham has stated several times since Trump left office that he ought to think about running again.
Two significant members of the House Republican Conference, Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Jim Banks (R-IN), told Politico during the summer that they would back Trump if he ran for president in 2024.
Despite signals that some GOP supporters are prepared to switch sides, polls have showed that the majority of Republicans still favor Trump and would vote for him if he were to become the party’s nominee.
According to a USA Today-Ipsos poll conducted in late August, 59 percent of Republicans surveyed support Trump as their contender for president in 2024, while 41 percent support a different candidate.
In a hypothetical 2024 primary, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll study done earlier this month, 55% of Republican voters indicated they would support the former president for reelection.
However, a Sunday survey by ABC-Ipsos found that 72 percent of GOP voters preferred the Florida governor over Trump when it came to deciding the direction the party should take in the future.
Even if many of them are Trump’s detractors, the reaction from top Republican leaders illustrates how Trump may continue to polarize the conservative movement as attention switches from winning control of Congress to retaking the White House.
Cheney, who lost her primary contest to a candidate favored by Trump, has pledged to do all in her power to prevent Trump from winning the presidency in 2024. She has even refused to rule out running as an independent candidate.
For Sunday, Cheney previewed the discussion that will take place in the coming months by stating that having Trump as the GOP nominee in 2024 might have disastrous effects on the party.
Cheney stated on “Meet the Press” that the party “needs to either come back from where we are right now, which is a very hazardous and poisonous position, or the party will break and a new conservative party that rises.”
