Did it stall or did it never quite get out of the garage?
Supporters of former President Donald Trump have been eagerly waiting for his next move following the Nov. 15 announcement that he would seek a second term in the White House. Since that time, the silence has become deafening as December drags on with no sign of any rallies or tours to support his candidacy.
Some would argue that it would be wiser to wait until the new year before trying to launch into the presidential campaign season. Still, this is Trump, and Trump waits for no one other than Trump.
A recent story attempted to answer the simple question: What has Trump been doing since he announced his 2024 campaign? The answer, so far, is not much:
The travel-averse former president has largely stayed put at Mar-a-Lago, entertaining guests as the headliner at the American Freedom Tour Winter Gala — a for-profit organizer of Trump’s non-campaign rallies — and inviting notorious antisemites to dinner. To the extent that the former president has made appearances outside the comfort of his private estate, it’s been by video conferencing, pre-recorded messages, and Fox News interviews.
Despite having been welcomed back to Twitter for the first time since his account was suspended in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Trump has kept his social media musings to his Truth Social site, where he recently called for — then denied calling for — the termination of the United States Constitution. According to The Washington Post, Trump’s campaign claims it will begin holding events in earnest in the new year. One official from the former president’s team told the paper that “We’re still two years out. There’ll be a time to do events and a time to do rallies.”
There’s no disputing Trump has had a rough few weeks. Since the lackluster campaign launch followed by ongoing legal troubles and a trainwreck dinner with Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Nick Fuentes, an out-and-proud white supremacist, Trump’s been laying fairly low. Perhaps the latter issue, the dinner, was the nail in the coffin right now in terms of acting as an impetus for staying out of the spotlight.
In many ways, regardless of what’s going on in the background in Trump world, the media wants him to be doing whatever he’s not doing. If he’s not holding rallies, they want to know why not? If he’s not making public appearances, what’s he afraid of? Then, if he starts doing rallies and making appearances, they’ll attack him for something else. Wash, rinse, repeat.
However, given that Trump’s support in the 2024 primary seems to be softening, there was clearly a need for the former president to stay relevant and in the minds of GOP voters. On the contrary, the headlines from Mar-a-Lago in the last two weeks have been damning and unhelpful toward Trump’s renewed presidential ambition.
As a result of the vacuum left by Trump’s tepid campaign launch, another Florida resident is benefitting greatly:
Republican support for Donald Trump’s presidential bid in 2024 has cratered, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, as the former president is beleaguered by midterm losses and courtroom setbacks.
By 2-1, GOP and GOP-leaning voters now say they want Trump’s policies but a different standard-bearer to carry them. While 31% want the former president to run, 61% prefer some other Republican nominee who would continue the policies Trump has pursued.
They have a name in mind: Two-thirds of Republicans and those inclined to vote Republican want Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president. By double digits, 56% to 33%, they prefer DeSantis over Trump.
“Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
If Trump fails to capture a near-majority of Republican primary voters it becomes more and more likely that the field will grow, not shrink. Even if DeSantis looks like the next-in-line, others like Mike Pompeo and even John Bolton have indicated they’re interested in running regardless of what Trump does.
The potential December Trump rallies have failed to materialize leaving some to speculate whether Trump remains serious about a run in 2024. Yes, it’s early, but Trump does not operate on the traditional calendar and rallies keep him front and center.
In two months this could all be old news or it could be the fork in the road which highlighted a divergence from Trump among a wider portion of the Republican base. Only time will tell and yet, as time ticks by, Trump’s grip is loosening despite the belief, even as of a month ago, that Trump was the top contender for the GOP in 2024.
As it stands now, it’s looking more and more like a fairly wide-open primary next year.
