ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Former President Donald Trump declared Tuesday night in Florida that he was running again for president in 2024. It’s his third presidential run after winning in 2016 and losing in 2020.
“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for President of the United States,” he told a crowd of supporters. “America’s comeback starts now.”
He talked about what his administration had done well and bad things about the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency. He did not focus on denying the results of the 2020 election that put Biden in the White House. That denial led to the deadly storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Even Trump allies like Missouri Senator Josh Hawley have said last Tuesday’s midterm election failures were a death knell for the Republican Party of the past.
FOX 2’s political insiders, Republican strategist John Hancock, and Democrat strategist Michael Kelley, predicted Trump would win the Republican nomination over a field of multiple GOP candidates.
“Josh Hawley says the Republican Party is dead and needs to be rebuilt. Can you rebuild it with (Donald Trump) at the head?” asked Fox 2’s Andy Banker.
“This is not a recipe for a successful GOP resurgence into the White House, but I do think Donald Trump, in a multi-candidate field, 5-6 opponents, is likely to be the Republican nominee for President in ’24,” Hancock said.
Kelley said
“This is real problem for the Republican Party. This man cannot win a national election,” added Kelley. “He goes and gives what seems to be a traditional political speech, and then tomorrow he’s back to being the real Donald Trump. The voters are done being fooled.”
“The United States had finally attained the impossible dream of American energy independence, which soon would have turned into energy dominance,” Mr. Trump said of his term in office. “Now, we are a nation in decline, as we speak, inflation is the highest in over 50 years. Gas prices have reached the highest levels in history. Our southern border has been erased, Our country is being invaded by millions and millions of people.”
“Had our candidates been talking about energy independence, had they been talking about where our economy was four years ago versus where it is tonight instead of talking about the 2020 election being stolen. I think we would have fared better (last Tuesday),” Hancock said.
“At the end of the day, Donald Trump does it for himself. He is more interested in being a political candidate for President of the United States than a defendant in court,” Kelley said. “I think that’s a part of the calculation of what we’re witnessing this evening.”
Kelley added that he did not believe President Biden would seek reelection in 2024.