Former president Donald Trump announced his third run for the White House on Tuesday night, officially launching his 2024 presidential bid. His Republican Party is divided on the announcement.
Some Republicans have hailed him as the GOP leader. But a growing number of others claim he should step back from the spotlight and let someone else take the bid for the party.
Democrats quickly fired back after Trump’s announcement, portraying the former president as unfit to serve another term, especially after the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection on the Capitol, and due to his ongoing promotion of unfounded and disproven claims of election fraud.
Trump’s announcement makes him the first prominent Republican to enter the 2024 race.
As Trump was still on stage at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, President Biden released a video on Twitter firing back as he faces the potential of a rematch with his predecessor.
“Trump failed America,” the video concludes after attacking Trump on abortion, the economy, and Jan. 6.
Some Republican officials also rejected Trump’s candidacy and predicted he would fail in his plight to become the 2024 GOP nominee.
Multiple members of the GOP establishment have cooled on Trump somewhat in the wake of last week’s midterm elections, which had disappointed party faithful expecting a red wave. But Trump ignored the midterms’ verdict on him in announcing his 2024 run, in what has been labeled a “rambling” speech.
Trump’s unusually early announcement was motivated in part by a calculation that a formal candidacy may help shield him from multiple investigations into his attempts to cling to power after his 2020 defeat, which led to the deadly Jan. 6 mob attack by his supporters.
Trump’s haste to become a presidential candidate again carries big political risk and financial encumbrance as well. Advisors had told him to hold off, but he was eager to announce his run since the summer.
The twice-impeached former president’s view, according to friends and advisers, is that a formal White House bid will bolster his claims that the multiple state and federal investigations he faces are all politically motivated.
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