Trump officially announces 2024 run, defies calls to move on


(Bloomberg): Just as Donald Trump will run for president in 2024 on Tuesday and many Republicans are looking to move away from their longtime bannerman, they’ve been making fun of him for months. made public.

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Minutes before the event announcing his candidacy, Trump’s campaign turned in federal papers that he is running again. is.

“To make America great and bright again, I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States tonight,” Trump, 76, said in the golden ballroom at Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida. said in

For Republicans, the timing couldn’t have been better. In last week’s midterm elections, Trump-backed candidates were out of the main race as voters rejected those who denied the election or took extreme positions on social issues such as abortion rights and education. I struggled with

This left the Republicans no chance of regaining the Senate, falling short of the sizeable majority they hoped to win in the House.

Since then, Trump has tumbled from virtually unquestionable party leader, and his endorsement has taken him so symbolic importance for the House candidate that he has become the anchor that drags the Republican Party down. Many leading Republicans and donors want him to make way for new standard-bearers like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was reelected in a landslide last week.

As he often does at rallies, he complains about what he sees as the decline of America without his command, saying, “We are here tonight and declare it need not be.” I am here to do that,” he said.

He also took aim squarely at President Joe Biden’s greatest vulnerabilities: inflation and energy prices.

“We will deal with inflation immediately and bring it back down to the original level,” Trump said. “Remember that economic security is national security.”

The fastest inflation in 40 years has cast a heavy shadow on Biden’s economic record, which outpaced Trump on several measures.U.S. manufacturing jobs totaled 12.9 million last month, the highest since 2008. . This is part of a broader labor market recovery that has pushed employment above pre-pandemic levels. Gasoline retail prices are still rising, but are down 25% from their June highs.

Biden has announced his intention to seek re-election in 2024, but has yet to make a formal announcement. Yet he tweeted during Trump’s speech that “Donald Trump has failed America.”

Trump had sought to use his early announcements to freeze other Republicans who might have entertained the White House campaign. Potential Trump challengers will be encouraged after the disappointing midterm elections, he said.

Potential Trump challengers other than DeSantis include Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Former Vice President Mike Pence. Former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland.

Trump’s 2024 campaign includes longtime Republican operative Chris LaCivita, Trump’s Save America PAC chief executive Susie Wiles, and Brian Jack, former political director of Trump’s White House. The matter, which asked for anonymity to discuss internal decisions that would be led by senior strategists including.

Wiles was DeSantis’ former chief adviser. LaCivita ran his campaign of truth-seeking Swiftboat Veterans that damaged John Kerry’s 2004 Democratic presidential campaign. Jack worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign before assuming a role in the White House.

Trump seeks to shift blame for Republican defeat to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, while lashing out at potential rivals who say the former president is acting like a corner He ridiculed DeSantis as “Ron Desanctimonias”, threatened to reveal flattering information about state governors if he ran for president, and called Yankin’s name sound Chinese. was operated as

DeSantis finally hit back at Trump at a press conference in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Tuesday.

“When you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you get incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said.

“At the end of the day, just tell people to check the scoreboard last Tuesday night,” DeSantis said, referring to his crushing victory compared to Trump’s candidate’s win-loss record. Did.

A record of 236 to 38 Trump-supportive candidates were voted out last Tuesday, according to a compilation of Bloomberg News, with eight races still to be decided. , was defeated at least six times in the Senate, 12 times in the House, and 11 times in the gubernatorial office. Republican strategists believed that less extreme candidates could win.

What’s more, it’s unclear how Trump’s legal situation will affect a potential candidacy. Trump and his three children have also been sued in New York for allegedly inflating the value of his real estate company’s assets.

Republican strategist Alex Conant, who served as a senior adviser to Senator Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential primary, said that despite the Republicans’ loss, Trump said he was fighting for them. Conant said these voters made up about 35% of voters in the 2016 GOP primary, making Trump the nominee in a crowded field. We estimated that we could win the

“No matter what, Trump is the frontrunner because when you start at 35%, it’s hard for someone to beat you, especially in a crowded field,” Conant said.

(Details will be updated throughout.)

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