In a last-ditch effort to maintain his hold on power, Donald Trump attempted to annul the results of the 2020 presidential election and incited a violent riot at the Capitol.
Now, he has declared his candidacy for president in 2024.
At his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump, 76, declared, “I am announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” He was surrounded by enormous American flags.
The news and official filing come only one week after the 2022 midterm elections, which witnessed underwhelming results for Republican candidates supported by President Trump in crucial Senate seats and tight House races. Democrats were able to keep control of the Senate as a result.
Trump’s decision to run opens up the possibility of a rematch with President Joe Biden, who will turn 80 on Sunday and has declared his intention to seek reelection in 2024. Inflation was the top concern among all voters in the midterm elections, according to exit polls.
By a significant majority, they said they trusted Republicans on the matter more than they did Democrats. Also reversing a decades-long pattern of declining white voter participation in midterm elections, the electorate was over three-quarters white. However, Republicans came up short, and Trump is being blamed for this even by members of his own party.
Democrats fared well in these elections thanks to outrage about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal in this country. However, voters also made it clear that they did not want extremes by rejecting all of the Trump candidates, who ran on his bogus election claims.
In tight Senate contests in purple states including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Nevada, Republicans were defeated. In a runoff election in Georgia, which will take place in three weeks, another Trump supporter who has struggled terribly could help Democrats increase their margin of victory.
Republicans are on the verge of taking control of the House, but with a much smaller majority than they had hoped, which will probably make it harder for them to pass legislation in the coming year.
Trump received support from voters in 21 of the 64 House races that the Cook Political Report designated as toss-ups or leaning one way or the other. Only seven have succeeded. In the closest races, it was even worse for Trump’s candidates. Trump supported nine candidates in the thirty-two close contests.
And yet, despite the fact that his brand and his political approach have been shown to be radioactive in competitive states and districts over several election cycles in a succession, Trump is making yet another bid for the presidency and falsely claiming that his candidates fared well.
Trump’s action reveals some vulnerability as it aims to lock out the other Republican presidential candidates and push them to come out in support of him.
Additionally, he doesn’t want to give any possible competitors any airtime in case they sense a possibility, particularly someone like Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Where does “DeFuture” fit in?
Numerous members of the party are now publicly debating whether it makes sense to stick with the former leader, particularly with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis poised to challenge him.
Last week, DeSantis was re-elected with ease as governor of Florida. He is viewed as a more disciplined version of Trump and is a fervent conservative who caused controversy by transporting migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard and other liberal cities and enclaves.
DeSantis was dubbed “DeFuture” by the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post, which turned against Trump after the revelations from the congressional committee hearings on January 6. Trump was dubbed “Trumpty Dumpty,” who “couldn’t build a wall” and “had a great fall,” according to the newspaper.