The Hill reports that former President Donald Trump is expected to announce his 2024 presidential candidacy very soon.
How soon? This week.
Trump, in fact, has confirmed that he will be making a “special announcement” from Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
There is very little doubt that this special announcement will be his 2024 candidacy for the U.S. presidency. Trump has been teasing his candidacy for many, many months now, and it was widely reported that he would announce his candidacy following the midterm elections.
The post-midterm backlash
Even though the final results of the midterms are still unknown, by now, it is very clear that the Republicans failed to live up to pre-midterm expectations: the Democrats have maintained their control of the U.S. Senate and, at best, the Republicans might end up with a narrow majority in the House.
Looking for somewhere to place the blame, many Republicans – including some congressional Republicans – have pointed their fingers at Trump. The claim is that the Republicans’ poor showing in the midterm elections is, essentially, a rejection of Trump.
Accordingly, these Republicans – which would seem to include many Republicans who have been pro-Trump – are now calling for the Republican Party to move on from Trump and to, perhaps, embrace Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who, along with several other Florida Republicans, had an extremely successful midterm election.
Some Republicans are even calling for the party to move on from Trump – immediately – fearing that Trump might just keep U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker from defeating Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in the runoff that will be held in early December.
Trump presses on
To put it succinctly, Trump is having none of this.
He has dismissed the idea that the Republicans’ poor midterm performance is his fault, pointing to the fact that the candidates he endorsed, by and large, won and the fact that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to support many of the Republican candidates who lost key races.
Accordingly, Trump has made it clear that, despite the backlash that he is facing from many Republicans, he is moving forward with his 2024 announcement. What this sets up is a serious clash within the Republican Party, and it remains to be seen whether Trump will have enough support to continue pursuing his political ambitions.
If a new post-midterm poll is to be believed, Trump’s popularity among Republicans remains consistent.