WILL TRUMP BE THE GOP NOMINEE IN 2024?

 

                                         …This man continues to run the GOP

 

Will all of Trump’s legal issues keep him from running in 2024?

 

“Trump has an absolute viselike grip on the Republican electorate, and if he wants to be the Republican nominee in 2024, he will be,” said GOP strategist John Thomas.

 

Some Republican strategists have voiced worries about Trump’s influence, fretting that he is elevating less electable candidates in crucial races and that his polarizing presence in the midterms could complicate Republican attempts to win back control of Congress by running on concerns about inflation, crime and other problems that have persisted under Democratic control of the federal government.

“Having amateur candidates who’ve never run for office before carrying the banner for the Republican Party in critical Senate races is a risky maneuver,” said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who argues that Trump has helped elevate untested candidates in pivotal states. “The list is quite lengthy of Senate seats lost by weak Republican candidates, even in good Republican years.”

Even as he has notched some campaign wins, Trump has considerable legal and political problems, with multiple federal and state investigations into his conduct related to improperly taking classified materials to his seaside Florida estate, and his activities related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

The Wyoming primary was among the last intraparty contests of the year, and Republicans do not worry about holding that seat in a ruby red state. These races have unfolded against the backdrop of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search, which found top secret documents and other classified information, according to a list unsealed by a judge, and its aftermath. Many Republicans have followed Trump’s attempts to sow doubts about the legitimacy of the raid, alleging without evidence that it was a political attack, though some have started to defend federal law enforcement more vocally.

Former vice president Mike Pence told an audience in New Hampshire that the attacks on the FBI are unwarranted and that “Calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police.” But he also said he was “deeply troubled” that a search warrant had been issued and called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to release more information about its justification.

When it comes to the midterms, Trump’s influence in the party, which has been the subject of debate among Republicans since he left office under a torrent of criticism after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent President Biden’s election win from being certified, carries near-term risks for the GOP, some Republicans said.

In a concession speech Tuesday night, Liz Cheney warned of a perilous moment for American democracy and said she would “do whatever it takes to ensure Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office,” noting that most of her party has only rallied behind him since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Cheney 'will do whatever it takes' to stop Trump reelection.  Rep. Liz Cheney vowed to continue her fight against former president Donald Trump after losing Wyoming’s Republican primary on Aug. 16.

Anti-Trump conservatives have long discussed the possibility of Cheney running for president solely to attack Trump or siphon votes from him, and on Wednesday, Cheney told NBC’s “Today” that she will decide whether to run “in the coming months.” Right after her primary defeat, she filed with the Federal Election Commission to establish a leadership PAC called “the Great Task.”

Copyright G. Ater 2022