OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion
When the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump he was vocal about how that happened, and has remained vocal no matter what the liberal left does to try and silence him.
The question is, will he run again in 2024, or be a behind-the-scenes player?
Trump’s health and how the midterms elections play out are two key factors in a possible 2024 run. Trump’s already given a public nod to the health aspect, telling The Washington Post in April that “you always have to talk about health.”
Trump has been laying the groundwork for a 2024 campaign, hosting rallies across the country reminiscent of his 2016 campaign and announcing a slew of endorsements heading into the midterms. Still, in true Trump style, he’s yet to give a definitive answer on whether he’ll actually run, Daily Caller reports.
“The nomination is his if he wants it,” a former Trump official ultimately summed it up.
One thing is certain, if Trump does run in 2024, the 2020 election will will be part of the discussion.
Allies close to the former president say that Trump IS leaning toward running again.
The Daily Caller issued a report ‘based on interviews with a half-dozen Trump associates – two former Trump administration officials, three people familiar with the president’s thinking and one person familiar with the Trump team’s thinking – speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss privileged conversations.’
The contrived issues about the Jan 6 events at the Capitol to not concern Trump’s inner circle.
Trump, according to a person familiar with his team’s thinking, views January 6 as “completely overblown” and that “he didn’t do anything,” the Caller reported.
“He’s not gonna be like, ‘oh what happened was good,’ he’ll say that that’s bad, but also … every single poll shows that the American people don’t care about Jan. 6 the way the media does,” this person said.
Recent polling does back up that argument. Five Thirty Eight, in an article published April 22, highlighted various polls indicating Americans want to move on from the Capitol riot investigation.
Others close to the president view the riot in a similar light, with one describing it as a Washington, D.C., story.
“He [Trump] does not think that what went wrong at the Capitol was right,” the person familiar with Trump’s thinking explained. “He doesn’t think that. He’s shocked at what went down, and so it’s not like he believes that the violence was right. He thinks it was wrong, but the idea that the Democrats are blaming it all on him, he just rejects it. As he should.”
“The press will not get over 6th January, they won’t get over 2016, they won’t get over Russia, Russia Russia, but … I believe the American people are getting tired of that. I think the trust in the American media is falling way off,” a former senior Trump administration official noted. “It’s the economy, it’s inflation, it’s border … 6th January is far down. Most people go, okay that’s D.C. politics. It may sound good here in Washington, D.C., but I don’t think it’s playing well anywhere else.”
the Caller report continues, “If the Republicans take the House and the Senate, Donald Trump will run. If we take the House OR the Senate, Donald Trump will strongly consider running. If we take neither of them, he will not run,” a person familiar with Trump’s thinking said.
“If Biden really does run again, [Trump’s] running without question,” a former senior Trump administration official said.
Many who spoke with the Caller highlighted Biden’s low poll numbers and various crises that the country is currently battling under his administration, saying that Trump is more likely to run if the current president continues on what’s viewed as a disastrous path. In fact, this aspect has already been considered, one individual noted.
There are differing views, however, on whether leaning into such a strategy will help Trump should he run in 2024.
“I think that running on the invalidity of the 2020 election is a mistake, because the American people are looking for solutions to the problems that Joe Biden created,” the person with knowledge of the former president’s thinking added. “Will Donald Trump talk about solutions? Absolutely. But unfortunately, he’s wrapped around the axel of what they did to him in 2020. And he’s right, but the American people aren’t as interested in that,” the Caller reported.
A former senior Trump administration official echoed these concerns, telling the Caller that he hopes Trump’s advisor is “really strong” to “advise him away from re-litigating 2020.” Still, this Trump administration official highlighted the fact that “election integrity will still be important.”
Despite these worries, the person familiar with the Trump team’s thinking gave it a “100%” likelihood that Trump leans into election fraud in 2024 – and there are some who believe this strategy could actually help the former president, arguing that more people believe the rigged election story now than when the 2020 election played out, stated the Caller.
Source: The Republic Brief