New York magazine is reporting that former President Donald Trump has already made his decision about running in 2024.
Trump’s only decision now is when to announce the possibility of a 2024 presidential run.
“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after. . .You understand what that means?” Trump told a reporter. Pundits and political analysts say that this means Trump is now deciding whether he announces his intentions before or after the midterm elections in November.
Many Americans – both Republican and Democrat – have anticipated an announcement by Trump as to his intentions on running for president once more. This anticipation has grown particularly in the last year. The 45th president has continued holding rallies, attending political campaign events for those he has endorsed, and holding interviews with a myriad of news outlets.
Trump himself told the reporter, “People want me to run.”
Trump has hinted at a run for quite some time. He has told rally crowds in the past that he’s already decided and “you’re going to like it.”
Trump also told New York, “I feel very confident that, if I decide to run, I’ll win.”
Politico recently published an article claiming that Democrats also want Trump to announce a run for 2024 – and the sooner, the better. Pundits predict that a Trump 2024 announcement would bring “a windfall of cash” in the form of campaign contributions. They also believe that some traditionally Democratic voters who are upset with the party over record-high inflation and the economic mess of the country might decide to vote for Democratic candidates in the mid-terms.
Of course, a Trump announcement of a 2024 run would certainly set the media on fire as well. Trump has never been a media favorite; he has rankled reporter after reporter over the years. He coined the phrase “fake news,” and Trump went head-to-head with the media from the time he announced his initial run in 2015.
A former White House advisor and now an employee of the Democratic National Committee, Cedric Richmond, revealed what the party is doing in anticipation of the announcement: “It puts in perspective what’s at stake, shows that the Republican Party is still extreme and helps set up the contrast.”
Most Democrats also believe that a Trump announcement of a 2024 run would have a decimating effect on the election results for down-ballot Republicans. In a year when taking back the House and the Senate is an important goal for the GOP, Trump announcing his run prior to the mid-terms could have the opposite effect he intends.
At the same time, Trump is still highly popular among his base and the Republican Party. He has endorsed multiple candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives – 173, to be exact. Only a handful have not won their primaries with the Trump endorsement.
Trump’s interview regarding the possibility of announcing a 2024 run come at a time when the Democratic Party seems to be experiencing a great deal of infighting and President Biden’s approval numbers are at a historic low. A recent poll revealed that 64 percent of Democrats do not want Joe Biden to run in 2024; however, 92 percent of Democrats said if the 2024 race came down to Biden and Trump, Biden would have their vote once again.
Biden is also seeing a backlash from the mainstream media as well. Typically Democrat-friendly stations such as CNN, MSNBC and others are now questioning Biden’s age as president and inferring his fitness for the role is in question. Biden snapped back at a reporter last week when asked about recent polling. There has also been numerous staff shake-ups at the White House, leaving many wondering if even staff is having a tough time enduring the shenanigans in the West Wing.
Will Trump run in 2024? An announcement around the mid-terms – either before or after – will reveal his intentions.
