Former President Donald Trump walked off the stage on November 15, 2022 at his home in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, after announcing that he would run for president again. Credit – Joe Raedle—Getty Images
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign got off to a very rocky start.
In the weeks since announcing his third presidential campaign, Trump has faced historic challenges. criminal complaint His company was convicted of tax evasion by the House Jan. 6 committee, his hand-picked Georgia Senate candidate lost a winnable seatBut that’s not all. Trump also called for an “end” to the Constitution in a social media post, banning white supremacist Nick Fuentes and anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club. After taking it, I was met with widespread disgust.
A drumbeat of bad news and bad decisions dropped Trump’s approval rating to 31% of voters, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released this month. That’s his lowest since 2015, when he stepped down an escalator to declare his first presidential run. at Trump Tower.
And Trump hasn’t done much to reverse the recession.Since then he rarely left Mar-a-Lago’s house During startup He started his campaign on Nov. 15 and has not hosted any major campaign events or attended rallies that could have helped maintain his momentum.
“What campaign? No rallies. No visible infrastructure,” says Larry Sabbat, a prominent political analyst and director of the University of Virginia Center for Political Science.
A visit to Trump’s campaign website in late December yielded no information on upcoming events or his political stance. Displaying a window, Trump sent out a video encouraging his supporters to “go online, donate, sign up, take action, volunteer, organize, talk to your neighbors.” The visitor is then directed to a fundraising page where the campaign includes decorations in the shape of flags, T-shirts, Trump with Santa’s hats, and a red baseball cap that says “Trump.” A link to a shop that sells swag will appear. Save America. ”
Trump remains the most powerful force in Republican politics, but polls show his support within the party is beginning to wane. The percentage of Republicans who view Trump favorably fell to 64% in December, according to one survey. USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, Down from 75% two months ago. More Republicans are opening up to other candidates as well. The same poll found that 61% of his Republicans prefer a non-Trump Republican candidate who pursues the policies of the Trump administration. A poll shows 31% of Republicans want him to run for Trump in 2024.
According to Republican pollster Witt Ayers, Trump’s campaign has so far been “disorganized, haphazard, unfocused, focused on the past and his grievances rather than the future.” focus,” which is what attracted so many Republicans to him in 2015. That said, Mr. Trump still holds a key piece of the party’s base. An Ayres poll conducted by North Star Opinion Research found that about 30% to 40% of Republican voters would support what Ayres describes as “always Trump,” i.e. Trump no matter what. People who say This is a strong foundation for running a Republican primary, Ayers said.
But Trump’s poor results so far have led to Republican reserves, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who are being encouraged to run for office by wealthy Republican donors who are disillusioned with Trump. It opened the door to potential challengers in the election.DeSantis won That’s a lot more than Trump’s victory over Joe Biden in the state in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016. Youngkin has garnered support from conservatives who have passed tax cuts in Virginia and are working to limit flexibility. Schools should reach out to transgender and gender fluid students.
And unlike Trump, potential candidates like DeSantis and Youngkin have the advantage of staying in office next year, giving them a better chance to capture the attention of Republican voters through policy wins and responses to current events. gives
The bad news for Trump isn’t likely to end any time soon. Attorney General Merrick Garland last month nominated Special Counsel Jack Smith following the Trump campaign’s announcement, citing Trump’s role in trying to reverse his 2020 election loss and after Trump resigned. appointed to take over the investigation into the mishandling of confidential documents. A Georgia investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis continues to call witnesses from Trump circles as Trump seeks to pressure officials to change vote counts. On December 23, the House January 6 Committee released its final report. The report contains a series of allegations that Trump tried to send fake voters to prevent a Biden victory and refused to intervene when his supporters violently stormed his constituency. It contained terrible testimony and evidence. The Capitol will stop certifying results.
Some Republican leaders have publicly criticized Trump in recent weeks, perhaps encouraged by the failure of a Republican wave to materialize in the midterm elections that showed the limits of Trump’s political clout. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that when Trump posted on his social media website TruthSocial that electoral fraud would allow him to “repeal” constitutional provisions, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell He said such remarks would strip Trump from the Oval Office. McConnell told reporters on December 6, “Anyone who seeks the presidency who believes that the Constitution may be suspended or unenforced in some way is very unlikely to take office as President of the United States.” Last week, McConnell continued to criticize Trump, Tell NBC News“The former president’s political influence has diminished.”
The waning support for Trump among Republicans may be temporary. “He has bounced back before,” Sabbat said, adding that when Trump appears to be in clear leadership, “the down-to-earth part of the party realizes how much he has paid. Then they’ll pull back, but these same people will go with the flow,” he added, against other candidates in the Republican primary.
On Dec. 14, Trump sparked speculation that he was about to make a move to rekindle momentum for the presidential election. He posted that he would make an “important announcement,” prompting speculation that he had a major move planned in connection with his efforts to retake the White House. We released our digital art as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and sold them for $99 each. The profits went to Trump, not his campaign.
A few days later, on December 20, there were signs of another move on the political front. A call for funds from Trump’s 2024 campaign advertised a contest for flights and hotels to attend Trump’s first rally since the president’s announcement. It was not taken.