Trump eyes early 2024 reveal
NEWS OF 3RD WHITE HOUSE RUN TIPPED AMID CAPITOL RIOT FLARE-UP
>>WASHINGTON, DC: Republicans are bracing for Donald Trump to announce an unusually early bid for the White House, a move designed in part to shield the former president from a stream of damaging revelations emerging from investigations into his attempts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election.
While many Republicans would welcome Mr Trump’s entry into the race, his move would also exacerbate persistent divisions over whether the former president is the party’s best hope to win back the White House. The party is also divided over whether his candidacy would be an unnecessary distraction from midterm elections or even a direct threat to democracy.
Mr Trump has long hinted at a third consecutive White House bid and has campaigned for much of the past year. He has accelerated his planning in recent weeks just as a pair of investigations have intensified and congressional testimony has revealed new details about Mr Trump’s indifference to the threat of violence on Jan 6, 2021, and his refusal to act to stop an insurrection.
Mr Trump has also watched as some of his preferred candidates have lost recent primary elections, raising hopes among his potential Republican competitors that voters may be drifting from a politician long thought to have an iron grip on the party.
Rather than humble Mr Trump, the developments have emboldened him to try to reassert himself as the head of the party, eclipse damaging headlines and steal attention from potential rivals, including Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida, a rising favourite of donors and voters. Republicans close to Mr Trump have said he believes a formal announcement would bolster his claims that the investigations are politically motivated.
Mr Trump would enter the race as the clear front-runner, with an approval rating among Republicans around 80%, but there are signs that a growing number of the party’s voters are exploring other options.
“I don’t think anyone is inevitable,” said Haley Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chair who also served eight years as Mississippi’s governor.
The timing of a formal announcement from Mr Trump remains uncertain. But he recently surprised some advisers by saying he might declare his candidacy on social media without warning even his own team.
That timing would be extraordinary — presidential candidates typically announce their candidacies in the year before the election — and could have immediate implications for Republicans seeking to take control of Congress in November. Mr Trump’s presence as an active candidate would make it easier for Democrats to turn midterm races into a referendum on the former president, who since losing in 2020 has relentlessly spread lies about the legitimacy of the election. Some Republicans fear that would distract from pocketbook issues that have given their party a strong advantage in congressional races.
“Republicans want to win badly in 2022, and it is dawning on many of them that relitigating the 2020 election with Trump’s daily conspiracy diatribes are sure losers,” said Dick Wadhams, a Republican strategist and former chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
Mr Trump’s team remains divided over whether he should run again. Those opposed to a third White House bid have expressed concerns ranging from doubts about Mr Trump’s remaining political potency to whether he can articulate a clear rationale for running.
The debate comes as investigations into the behaviour of Mr Trump and his associates gather steam. The Justice Department is looking into past efforts to keep Mr Trump in office after his defeat.