In his triumphant return to the public stage, President Donald Trump decided to keep fanning the flames of speculation for the possibility of a 2024 Presidential run. Despite dropping the 2020 Election, Trump has remained curiously wishy-washy on his plans for the next Presidential election amongst his weeks of uncharacteristic silence. With millions of fierce supporters, Trump has yet to count out a 2024 run.
“I may even decide to beat them for a third time,” he declared to a cheering crowd. Jestingly poking fun at his 2020 loss by slipping in he won the Presidency twice, Trump obviously still believes the election was swiped from him.
What Trump was perfectly clear with was shutting down rumors of his plans to establish a new political party in Washington, killing off hopes of the fabled “Patriot Party.” Instead, Trump centered his speech around unity within the Republican Party and promised historic strength in the future of the party.
“We will do what we’ve done right from the beginning, which is to win,” Trump said. “We’re not starting new parties. You know, they kept saying, ‘He’s going to start a brand new party.’ We have the Republican Party; it’s going to unite and be stronger than ever before. I am not starting a new party. That was fake news.”
A CPAC straw poll revealed Trump maintains a strong lead over fellow 2024 potential nominees for President, winning 55% of the votes from attendees at one of the largest conservative conventions, though it’s unclear how he will fare among the general Republican. A Politico-Morning Consult Poll found 54% would back Trump in the 2024 primary and 59% said they wanted Trump to play a prominent role in their party, indicating Trump still holds serious clout in the party, despite leaving office on a somewhat sour note.
With two impeachments, his supporters storming the Capital building, and failing to deliver serious evidence of voter fraud after months of boasting about the scale of the evidence, Trump would enter 2024 tagged with serious vulnerabilities as a candidate. Combined with over four years of the entire media apparatus painting an unsightly image of him (an image, evidenced by the result of the 2020 Election, many Americans buy into), Trump would be a shell of his Presidency-winning 2016 form.
Considering the bright new stars of the Republican Party and conservative movement sprouted their wings in the twilight of the Trump administration, Trump taking a backseat to new faces like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may pay off well for Republicans in 2024.
