Trump seeks White House again amid Republican defeat, legal probe

palm beach, florida – former president donald trump On Tuesday, he launched his third White House campaign, saying he would start the 2024 election campaign early.Announcement will be made in exactly one week Overwhelming Midterm Elections for Republicans It will let the party decide whether to accept candidates who refuse to accept defeat in 2020. It put American democracy in jeopardy.

“Tonight I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States to make America great and bright again,” Trump said to an audience of hundreds of supporters, club members and a assembled press. , said in his Mara chandelier ballroom. The Lago Club, where he stood, was lined with more than 30 American flags and banners bearing his slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

“I am running for office because I believe the world has yet to see the true glory of what this country can be,” Trump said.

“We put America first again,” he added.

Trump joins the race in a moment of political fragility. He wanted to start his campaign after a crushing victory in the Republican midterm elections, backed by candidates who were promoted in this year’s primaries. Instead, many of these candidates lost, allowing Democrats to retain the Senate and leaving Republicans a path to only a majority in the House.

Far from being the undisputed Republican leader, Trump now faces criticism from his own supporters who say it’s time for Republicans to look to the future.

The former president is still popular with Republican supporters. But other Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, are taking increasingly public steps toward their own campaign, saying Trump will have to navigate the highly competitive Republican primary. We are improving our outlook.

He’s launched his candidacy in a series of escalating criminal investigations, some of which could lead to indictment. They included the probes in dozens of documents and gave them classified markings. seized by the FBI From Mar-a-Lago and ongoing state and federal investigations into his efforts flip the results of the 2020 presidential election.

He made history as the first president to be impeached twice, ending his term on January 6 when his supporters violently stormed the Capitol in a deadly bid to prevent a peaceful transition of power. Even more so the president who finished. , 2021.

But Trump said, according to people close to him, wanted to go home Oppose politics and try to stop the rise of other potential challengers. Aides have spent the last few months preparing paperwork, identifying potential staff, and sketching campaign outlines modeled after 2016 operations. It capitalized on its more experienced rivals by capitalizing on deep political faults and using shocking statements to attract constant media attention.

Even after the Republicans lost, Trump remains the most powerful force in his party. For years, he has greatly outperformed Republican candidates in virtual head-to-head matches. And even in his absence, he consistently attracts thousands to his rallies and remains his party’s most prolific fundraiser, raising hundreds of millions of dollars.

But Trump is also a very polarizing figure. In last week’s midterm elections, 54% of voters considered him highly or somewhat unfavorable, according to his AP VoteCast, which polled more than 94,000 voters across the country. An AP-NORC poll in October found that even Republicans have reservations about him remaining the party’s standard-bearer, with 43% saying he won’t run for president in 2024. Said he didn’t want to see

Trump’s candidacy raises serious questions about the future of American democracy. The final days of his presidency were spent in a desperate effort to stay in power, undermining centuries-old traditions of peaceful transfers. And two years after he was defeated, Trump’s persistent — and unsubstantiated — lies about widespread election fraud have undermined confidence in the country’s political process. By late January 2021, about two-thirds of Republicans said they didn’t believe President Joe Biden was legally elected in 2020, according to an AP-NORC poll.

VoteCast showed that many Republican voters in the midterm elections continue to hold their beliefs.

Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general say there is no credible evidence that the 2020 election was tainted. It was dismissed entirely by many courts.

But that hasn’t stopped hundreds of midterm candidates from parroting his lies in an attempt to win his loyal base and gain much-needed support. lost their race in a sign that voters rejected such extreme rhetoric.

Some Republicans with presidential ambitions, like former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, have long ruled out running with Mr. Some say they never understand their decisions.

They include Pence, who published a book on Tuesday, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who ran against Trump in 2016. Senator Tim Scott and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Trump is also likely to face challenges from anti-Trump members such as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney.

But it’s DeSantis who has dominated Trump and his supporters the most in recent months, and leading last week’s re-election as governor was a bright spot for Republicans this cycle. The former congressman, who lifted restrictions on COVID-19 and became a national favorite among conservatives amid the pandemic, shares Trump’s jiu-jitsu instincts and speaks to society with similar enthusiasm. We have embraced the battle over the issue.

Even some die-hard Trump supporters say they’re eager for DeSantis to run, believing he’s Trump’s natural successor but without the former president’s considerable burden.

Trump has already started denouncing DeSantis. On Tuesday, the governor of Florida fought back.

“At the end of the day, I told people to check the scoreboard last Tuesday night,” DeSantis told reporters.

As it was in 2016, a dense field of Republican rivals could end up in Trump’s favor when he wins over a dozen other candidates who split the anti-Trump vote. I have.

Trump’s decision paves the way for a possible rematch with Biden. Biden has said he wants to run for re-election despite concerns from some within his party about his age and low approval ratings. The two were already the oldest presidential candidates when they ran in 2020. Trump, 76, will be 82 at the end of his second term in 2029. Biden, who is 80, will be 86.

If he is ultimately successful, Trump will become the second US president in history to serve two non-consecutive terms, following the victories of Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892.

But Trump, beyond his party’s growing fears, will enter the race in the face of colossal challenges. The former president has been the subject of numerous investigations, including a months-long investigation into hundreds of classified-marked documents found in Mar-a-Lago boxes.

Meanwhile, Trump faces Justice Department scrutiny over his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis is investigating what she claims is a “multi-state coordinated plan by the Trump campaign” to influence the 2020 outcome. .

In New York, Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump, alleging that a company named after him spent decades engaging in fraudulent bookkeeping that misled banks about the value of his assets. The Trump Organization is also currently on trial and facing criminal tax fraud charges.

Some around Trump believe that running for office will prevent him from potentially being indicted, but it will either prevent the Justice Department from moving forward or prevent Trump from running if he is indicted. There is no law that prevents you from continuing.

It was no secret what he had planned.

“It’s been four great years,” Trump told guests at a White House Christmas party in December 2020.

“We’re trying to do four more years,” he said. “Otherwise, see you in four years.”

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Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj.