Republican Presidential Hopefuls Move Forward As Trump Considers 2024 Run
Less than three months after former President Trump left the White House, the race to succeed him is already beginning.
Trumps former secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo, has launched an aggressive schedule visiting states that will play a pivotal role in the 2024 Republican primaries and has signed a contract with Fox News Channel. Mike Pence, Trumps former vice president, has started a political advocacy group, finalized a book deal and later this month will give a speech in South Carolina, his first since leaving office. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been courting donors, including in Trumps backyard, with a prominent speaking slot before the former president at a GOP fundraising retreat dinner this month at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort where Trump now lives.
Trump ended his presidency with such a firm grip on Republican voters that party leaders fretted he would freeze the field of potential 2024 candidates, delaying preparations as he teased another run. Instead, many Republicans with national ambitions are openly laying the groundwork for campaigns as Trump continues to mull his own plans.
Theyre raising money, making hires and working to bolster their name recognition. The moves reflect both the fervor in the party to reclaim the White House and the reality that mounting a modern presidential campaign is a years-long endeavor.
‘americans Will See The Current Two Options Are Not The Choice’
Jade Simmons is a multi-hyphenated woman. A former beauty queen, professional concert pianist, motivational speaker, rapper, mother, and ordained pastor.
As she puts it, she is an unconventional candidate, “but these are unconventional times”.
“This seemed to me to be a time when we couldn’t afford to do business as usual,” she says. “I’m the daughter of a civil rights activist, and the way my father raised me was that if you see voids, if you see injustices, you need to ask yourself if that might be you that needs to be leaning in.”
She says her goal is to create equal access to opportunity, through economic, educational and criminal justice reform. And in that spirit, she’s aiming to run “the least expensive campaign in the history of our nation”.
“We think it’s abominable that it costs now almost a billion dollars to run for president when the qualifications are that you are 35 years old, a US-born resident, and have lived here 14 years,” says Ms Simmons. “We’d rather spend that money on helping people.”
While the Republican and Democratic nominees will be on the ballot in all states, independents must meet an array of state deadlines and access requirements.
“I know it sounds wild, given the history of independents! We believe that if we stay standing long enough, there’s still some more disruption coming in – that most Americans are going to see that the current two options are not the choice.
Sen Mitt Romney Of Utah
A Gallup poll last March found Romney, 74, has a higher approval rating among Democrats than Republicans, so you might figure he doesnt have a prayer in taking his partys nomination again. A February Morning Consult poll, though, had Romney polling ahead of Republicans like Pompeo, Cotton and Hawley. So, youre telling me theres a chance? Yes, a one-in-a-million chance.
The 2012 GOP presidential nominee and his wife, Ann, have five sons. He graduated from Brigham Young University and Harvard Law. Romney is a former Massachusetts governor, and the first person to be a governor and senator from two different states since Sam Houston, who was governor of Tennessee and a senator from Texas. Romney is this years JFK Profile in Courage Award recipient.
Florida Gov Ron Desantis
DeSantis, 42, has quickly emerged as a Republican rising star. He finished second in the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll in February behind Trump, and some see him as the best positioned heir to the Trump mantle.
If Trump doesnt run again, I think hes the odds-on favorite to be the next president, Florida Republican Party chair and state Sen. Joe Gruters told NBC News of DeSantis.
DeSantis appeal is due in part to his combative relationship with the news media he regularly spars with journalists, interrupting or pushing back against their questions in a way Trump fans would appreciate and also because of his handling of the pandemic.
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, DeSantis wrote that Floridas less-restrictive response to COVID-19 bucked faulty intel from the elites and the state still ended up with comparatively low unemployment, and per capita COVID mortality below the national average. Floridas COVID-19 death rate per 100,000 people is similar to California and Ohio, and so far, about 33,500 Floridians have died from the virus. New research in the American Journal of Public Health suggests the state is undercounting COVID-19 deaths.
How Biden Won: Ramping Up The Base And Expanding Margins In The Suburbs
It brings the number of states Biden flipped from Trump’s 2016 column to five, including Arizona, which last voted Democratic in a presidential race when it backed Clinton in 1996.
Biden also flipped Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, three key northern industrial states that ultimately delivered the White House to Trump four years ago. Biden also won a single electoral vote in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which last voted Democratic for former President Barack Obama in 2008.
Electors from each state and the District of Columbia are expected to vote on Dec. 14. The new Congress will then count the votes and certify Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, two weeks before the inauguration.
But Georgia’s political activity is far from over. The state will hold two runoff elections on Jan. 5 for both its U.S. Senate seats, which are currently held by Republicans.
‘i Made A Decision To Live My Life In Service’
Brock Pierce is a former child actor who appeared in the Mighty Ducks franchise and starred as the president’s son in the 1996 comedy First Kid. But thanks to his second career as a tech entrepreneur, he’s also probably a crypto currency billionaire.
Why is he running for president? Partly because he is deeply concerned by the state of the country.
“I think that we lack a real vision for the future – I mean, what kind of world do we want to live in, in the year 2030? What is the plan? Where are we trying to get to, you know? You have to aim for something. And I see mostly just a lot of mud being thrown around, not a lot of people putting forth game-changing ideas. It’s getting scary. And I have a view of what to do.”
For the last four years, Mr Pierce has focused on philanthropic work in Puerto Rico, where his foundation recently raised a million dollars for PPE to give to first responders.
Asked what America’s priorities should be for the next four years, he suggests the country stops pursuing “growth for growth’s sake”, and measures its success by how well life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are upheld.
“I have many liberal tendencies, just like I have conservative tendencies,” Mr Pierce says. “And I think it’s time we take a collective breath and a brave step into the future, because all of these ideologies have something to teach us.”
And if he doesn’t pull it off? Mr Pierce says he has offers.
Trump Remains 2024 Candidate Of Choice For Most Republicans Poll Shows
59% of Republican voters said they wanted Trump to play prominent role in party, but tens of thousands left after Capitol riot
If the 2024 Republican presidential primary were held today, Donald Trump would be the clear favorite to win big. That was the message from a Politico-Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday, three days after Trumps acquittal in his second impeachment trial, on a charge of inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January.
Among Republican voters, 59% said they wanted Trump to play a prominent role in their party, up a whopping 18 points from the last such poll, taken in the aftermath of the Capitol riot. A slightly lower number, 54%, said they would back Trump in the primary.
Tens of thousands of Republicans left the party after the Capitol insurrection, and a majority of Americans have told other pollsters they would like to see Trump banished from politics.
Though the 45th president will be 78 by election day 2024, he will be able to run again if he chooses, having escaped being barred from office after a 57-43 Senate vote to convict with seven Republican defections but 10 votes short of the majority needed.
Mike Pences life was threatened by Trump supporters at the Capitol, as the vice-president presided over the ratification of electoral college results confirming Trumps defeat by Joe Biden. He placed second in the Politico-Morning Consult poll, with 12%.
Key Votes: 115th Congress 2017
- For detailed information about each vote, click .
Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018
- Â Bill Passed on December 12, 2018
- Proposed providing funding for commodity support, conservation, trade and international food aid, nutrition assistance, farm credit, rural development, research and extension activities, forestry, horticulture, and crop insurance through fiscal year 2023.
Voted Yea on:Â Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 )
- Â Bill Passed on June 21, 2018
- Proposed providing funding for commodity support, conservation, trade and international food aid, nutrition assistance, farm credit, rural development, research and extension activities, forestry, horticulture, and crop insurance. It also proposed modifying the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as the food stamp program.
Voted Yea on:Â Securing Americaâs Future Act of 2018
- Â Bill Failed on June 21, 2018
- Proposed funding a border wall, limiting legal immigration, a mandatory worker verification program, allowing DACA recipients to apply for legal status, and preventing separation of families at the border.
Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018
- Â Bill Passed on December 12, 2018
- Reauthorizes through FY2023 and modifies some Department of Agriculture programs.
Voted Yea on:Â Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
Voted Yea on:Â Kates Law
Voted Yea on:Â No Sanctuary for Criminals Act
Voted Yea on:Â American Health Care Act of 2017
Voted Nay on:Â Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018
Georgia’s Republican Us Senators Call On Gop State Election Chief To Resign
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, himself a Republican, called the claims “laughable” and refused to step aside.
The early rancor and fighting over the presidential election results, which are headed for a recount despite Biden’s growing lead, is a preview of the intense fight to come over the fate of the two Senate seats. Vice President Pence told GOP senators that he plans to campaign in the state, and national Democrats are already pouring money and support to their challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
The Georgia runoffs are slated for Jan. 5, after the Senate is scheduled to begin a new session. That uncertainty means the Senate will be unable to officially organize until the results of that election are finalized.
A Marine stands outside the entrance to the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday, signifying that President Trump is in the Oval Office. Evan Vucci/APhide caption
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A Marine stands outside the entrance to the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday, signifying that President Trump is in the Oval Office.
President Trump is set to visit Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday to mark Veterans Day and lay a wreath. Trump will be joined by Vice President Pence. This is one of the more traditional ceremonial duties of a president. .
Asked what the president has been up to, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Trump has been working behind the scenes.
None Of Them Can Win But They Could Play Spoiler
Remember when half of American white males over the age of 40 declared themselves for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016? There were so many candidates that they couldn’t fit them all on two packed debate stages. One guy stayed in after receiving a grand total of 12 votes in the Iowa caucuses; in New Hampshire, Jim Gilmore’s showing improved to , an unprecedented 1,000 percent increase. Reader: He didn’t withdraw for another six days.
Since Donald Trump is our incumbent president, and will thus almost surely be the GOP nominee in 2020, we should be spared a repeat, and really ought to be able to give our undivided attention to the approximately 437 mostly Social Security-eligible senators, governors, congressmen, mayors, and billionaire activists looking to run on the Democratic ticket in 2020. Unfortunately, Trump will almost certainly be challenged, either in the ostensibly meaningless Republican primaries or by one or more independent right-of-center candidates.
Stephen Bannon thinks 2020 will be a proper three-way race. #NeverTrumpers are already ferreting around for someone to challenge the president for the GOP nomination. “I just finished reading a book about the French resistance. It reminds me of that. People are meeting over their garages their ateliers trying to figure out who’s going to do it,” one of them toldNew York recently.
Here are five people who might just fit the bill.
1. John Kasich
Chance of running: 80 percent
2. Jeff Flake
Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger: National Gop Figures Didn’t Understand Our Laws
But Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system implementation manager, said on Wednesday that the system is working exactly the way it is intended.
“The irony of saying ‘fraudulent votes have been found’ â he has gained in the finding of these votes,” he said.
Raffensperger has said he’s been pressured by top Republicans to find ways of disqualifying ballots that hurt the Trump campaign.
“They say that as pressure builds, it reveals your character, it doesn’t change your character. Some people aren’t behaving too well with seeing where the results are,” Raffensperger told NPR’s Ari Shapiro on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, I want voters to understand that when they cast their ballot in Georgia, it will be accurately counted. You may not like the results and I get that. I understand how contentious it is. But you can then respect the results.”
Poll workers check voters’ identifications on Election Day at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wis. The Trump campaign has announced it is filing for a recount in two Wisconsin counties.hide caption
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Poll workers check voters’ identifications on Election Day at the Orpheum Theater in Madison, Wis. The Trump campaign has announced it is filing for a recount in two Wisconsin counties.
President Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday morning it is filing a petition to formally ask election authorities to conduct a recount in two Wisconsin counties. President-elect Joe Biden won the state by a little more than 20,000 votes.
If Trump Runs In 2024 Could Any Republican Beat Him
As we await the final results to come in from the decisive states, let us assume for a moment that this election ends in the way that now appears most likely. That is, Joe Biden wins, and a large number of conservatives are convinced that the only reason President Trump lost is that Democrats stole the election.
Given these circumstances, if Trump decided that he wanted to run for president again four years from now, is there a Republican politician in the country who would be able to stop him?
For sure, professional Republicans would want to move on from Trump. And many of the Republican voters who merely tolerated him because he was better than the Democratic alternative may be eager for other options. But those are the same groups of people that tried unsuccessfully to kill his candidacy in 2016.
Trump may decide that he doesn’t want to run again. Or his health may decline as he enters his late 70s. But let’s just assume he decides to run and that he’s in roughly the same mental and physical condition that he is now. How can any Republican hope to compete with him?
In defeat, Trump would be in a position unlike that of other one-term presidents. Typically, one-term presidents are written off as losers, and their parties run away from them. Think of Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, or George H.W. Bush. After 1980, nobody ran for office claiming, “I’m a Jimmy Carter Democrat.” Bush I was never a coveted speaker in conservative circles after his loss.
The This Sounds Crazy But Hear Me Out Wild Card
Mike Lindell
Donald Trump wasnt the first celebrity businessman without any experience in elective office who got traction in a Republican presidential primary. In 2012, it was former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain. In 1996 and 2000, it was magazine publisher Steve Forbes. Back in 1940, utility executive Wendell Willkie snagged the GOP nomination.
Today, who is the most famous, politically active Republican businessman? MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. That may sound crazy, but no crazier than what we experienced in 2016.
Lindell is a leader of the bitter-enders trying to overturn the democratic results of the presidential election. He claims to have spent $1 million on legal work and Stop the Steal rallies to support Trumps delusional cause. On December 19, he tweeted out a call for Trump to impose martial law in these 7 states and get the machines/ballots! though he soon deleted the post.
He became a conservative darling in part because he heavily marketed his pillows on Fox News; in the second quarter of 2020, MyPillow was Fox Newss top advertiser, spending more than double the amount of the second-place company. But now he accuses Fox News, and its early call that Biden won Arizona, of conspiring to defeat Trump
What to watch for in 2021:While Lindell has been thinking about a Minnesota gubernatorial bid, he has managed to visit neighboring Iowa several times in 2020. Lets see which state he campaigns in more in 2021.
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What Is A Voter
The , which took effect January 1, 2011, created voter-nominated offices. The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act does not apply to candidates running for U.S. President, county central committees, or local offices.
Most of the offices that were previously known as partisan are now known as voter-nominated offices. Voter-nominated offices are state constitutional offices, state legislative offices, and U.S. congressional offices. The only partisan offices now are the offices of U.S. President and county central committee.
Former Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo
If the 2024 election turns into a foreign policy debate, the 57-year-old Pompeo is in a strong position with his background as former secretary of state and CIA director.
During Pompeos recent speech at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa, he gave a preview of some of the lines that might end up in his presidential stump speech. He said hes spent more time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un than any other American, including basketball star Dennis Rodman, and talked about the threat he sees from China. His mention of the U.S. moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during his tenure was met with applause.
Before serving in Trumps Cabinet, Pompeo blasted then-candidate Trump as an authoritarian. Pompeo made the remarks the day of the Kansas caucus in 2016, quoting Trump saying that if he told a soldier to commit a war crime, they would go and do it. Pompeo said the U.S. had spent 7½ years with an authoritarian president who ignored the Constitution, referencing former President Barack Obama, and we dont need four more years of that.
Pompeo served three full terms representing Kansas in the U.S. House before joining the Trump administration. He and his wife, Susan, have one child. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and Harvard Law and served in the U.S. Army.
Academics Journalists Authors Commentators
- Reuel Marc Gerecht, writer
- Michael Gerson, columnist and speechwriter for George W. Bush
- Peter Mansoor, military historian
- Meghan McCain, commentator, daughter of Senator John McCain
- Charles Murray, political scientist and commentator
- Ana Navarro, strategist and commentator
- Tom Nichols, national security affairs scholar
- Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape; founder of Andreessen Horowitz
- Mike Fernandez, founder of MBF Healthcare Partners
- James Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International
- William Oberndorf, Chairman of Oberndorf Enterprises
Whos Running For President In 2020
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge President Trump in the 2020 race.
The field of Democratic presidential candidates was historically large, but all others have dropped out. Mr. Trump had also picked up a few Republican challengers, but they have also ended their campaigns.
Running
Has run for president twice before.
Is known for his down-to-earth personality and his ability to connect with working-class voters.
His eight years as Barack Obamas vice president are a major selling point for many Democrats.
Signature issues: Restoring Americas standing on the global stage; adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act; strengthening economic protections for low-income workers in industries like manufacturing and fast food.
Main legislative accomplishment as president: a sweeping tax cut that chiefly benefited corporations and wealthy investors.
Has focused on undoing the policies of the Obama administration, including on health care, environmental regulation and immigration.
Was impeached by the House of Representatives for seeking to pressure Ukraine to smear his political rivals, but was acquitted by the Senate.
Signature issues: Restricting immigration and building a wall at the Mexican border; renegotiating or canceling international deals on trade, arms control and climate change; withdrawing American troops from overseas.
Ended her campaign in March 2020 and said she would back Mr. Biden.
Views About The Publics Influence On Government
Overall, most adults see voting as an avenue to influence the government: 61% say that voting gives people like me some say about how government runs things.
However, on a more general measure of political efficacy, the public is more divided: 52% say ordinary citizens can do a lot to influence government if they make an effort, while 47% say theres not much ordinary citizens can do to influence the government in Washington.
On both measures, younger and less-educated adults are more skeptical about the impact of participation.
The view that voting gives people some say increases with age; while just 53% of adults under 30 say this, that compares with nearly three-quarters of those 65 and older . This age gap is seen in both parties.
Similarly, those under 50 are less likely than their elders to say ordinary citizens can influence government if they make an effort .
Education is also associated with a sense of political efficacy: 77% of postgraduates say voting gives people some say, compared with two-thirds of those with a bachelors degree and 57% of those with less education.
Political engagement is highly correlated with attitudes about voting. Highly engaged adults are considerably more likely to see the value of participation and the potential of ordinary citizens to influence governmental policy.
Sen Tom Cotton Of Arkansas
Cotton, 43, has been preparing for a potential presidential run since before the 2020 election even happened, visiting the first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire last year to campaign for local Republicans. I expect Ill be back to New Hampshire again in the future, he told Insider last October. The betting site PredictIt currently ranks Cotton alongside Pompeo, Rubio and Hawley.
Cotton represented Arkansas in the U.S. House for two terms before becoming a senator in 2015. His first brush with national prominence came in 2006 when he was serving in Iraq as an Army lieutenant. Cotton sent a letter to the editor at The New York Times criticizing their story about the U.S. terrorist finance tracking program. Cotton called for the paper to be prosecuted for revealing the program, and though his letter wasnt published in the Times, it was picked up by the conservative blog Power Line, which Cotton copied on his petition to the Times.
Another Cotton opinion piece did later make it into the Times. His controversial 2020 op-ed, headlined Send In the Troops about using the military and an overwhelming show of force against protesters and rioters following the death of George Floyd, led to the resignation of Times editorial page editor James Bennet. Cotton referenced the op-ed in January after the attack on the Capitol, and said in a statement that those involved should face the full extent of federal law.
