Trump says he has been longing back for his time in the White House for a while. He meets weekly with his political team and is thinking ‘100 percent’ of a new candidacy for the US presidency, he said in conversation with Fox Business last week. “The polls show that everyone wants me to do it.”
Indeed, polls indicate that Trump remains the most popular figure in the Republican Party. Six out of ten Republican voters want them back in 2024, according to a poll by Reuters and Ipsos last month.
Loyal to Trump
He did lose some ground. For the first time since the summer of 2019, slightly more Republican voters see themselves initially as Republican, instead of as a Trump supporter, they indicate in a poll by NBC News. But the golden formula for party success is still loyalty to Trump. In mid-term congressional elections in Texas, one of the candidates wanted his support so badly that she gave her phone number on live TV in the hope that the former president would call.
Republicans hope to win back seats in Congress in midterm congressional elections at the end of next year. But the party does not agree on the course that is needed for this. A good number are loyal to Trump and copy his provocative fact-free politics. For example, stricter electoral rules are being introduced in many Republican states to prevent alleged electoral fraud. There is no evidence that fraud affected last year’s election, but Trump has made it a Republican spearhead.
Apostates
Another, smaller group can’t wait to get out of the Trumpian drama. The Trumpists and the apostates continue to argue openly, with Trump at the forefront. In his interview with Fox, he lashed out again at Mitch McConnell, the party leader who distanced himself after continuing to deny his loss and a mob of extremist supporters storming the Capitol. “We need good leadership. Mitch McConnell hasn’t done a great job. I think they should switch McConnell, ”said Trump. A few weeks ago he already called McConnell a stupid ‘son of a bitch’.
McConnell reacted hypothermic. “We look to the future, not the past.” And the future of the party, McConnell said, is Tim Scott, the senator who was given a response to Biden’s speech in Congress last week. Scott stands out as the grandson of an illiterate cotton picker who became the only black Republican in the Senate. He thinks Democrats are divisive in their efforts to combat racism. The party leaders are full of praise and openly express their hope that Scott will run for president.
Seek attention
Whether he will really return to politics is uncertain – Trump especially likes to keep the attention. But as long as it is unclear what he is up to, few Republican politicians want to profile themselves as Trump’s adversaries. In addition to Tim Scott, a number of senators and former cabinet members, among others, are preparing for a campaign. These include former Vice President Mike Pence and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. But if Trump takes part again, Haley said, she will drop out.
The existential crisis in the party distracts from what matters: opposing Joe Biden. Republicans have not yet found effective criticism. The first steps that Biden takes to help the country out of the corona crisis with social programs are mostly popular with voters. The Republican Party, meanwhile, focuses a lot on conflict over cultural issues. Rights for transgender youth on the sports field, for example, or concerns about so-called ‘cancel culture’ – things with which Biden has little to do.
Invisible
Trump remains relatively invisible now that he no longer has access to social media. He now sends the thoughts he shared on Twitter in press releases. Great plans for an own party, a media company or an online platform have long been ignored. Nor from his wife – Melania Trump fills her days with visits to the spa in Mar-a-Lago, according to CNN sources. Next month, when it gets hot in Florida, the Trumps will move north to their golf club in New Jersey.
–
