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Trump mulls early 2024 announcement

Former President Donald Trump is apparently eyeing an early 2024 announcement in an attempt to win back the White House — and it could come in the next few days.

Behind the scenes, Trump is mulling an early entry into the 2024 fray to capitalize on lackluster polling for President Joe Biden and deter any stiff GOP primary competition, prompting concerns from Republicans that he could overshadow their midterm efforts, CNN reported. The announcement could come as soon as July.

“Every day is different. We get told he’s going to announce imminently, and by the afternoon, that has changed,” one source told the outlet.

Fueling Trump’s reported ambitions are the House select Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings that have focused on his behavior during his waning White House days and his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. An early announcement could stem the political bloodletting from the scathing hearings by giving him a stronger bully pulpit to rival them, he reportedly believes.

His advisers have been purportedly informing his allies that a campaign launch may come soon.

“He’s sounding a lot more committed lately,” another source told the outlet.

Last week, controversial Infowars host Alex Jones, who has been known to peddle conspiracy theories but has connections in Trumpworld, claimed a source told him that Trump could announce Monday on the Fourth of July.

Some in his orbit fear that he does not yet have the necessary campaign infrastructure to mount a third bid for the White House just yet. At one point, his advisers considered a July event in Michigan to launch the campaign, but the plans were canned, per CNN.

Trump has consistently trampled his top hypothetical GOP primary competition in polling, with Florida Gov. Ron Desantis routinely surfacing as his top threat. If he were to make an early announcement, Trump wants to make sure the campaign launch is not a “dud.”

However, some Republicans have been fretting that an early Trump entry could suck the oxygen away from important midterm races as they face a tough battle to reclaim the Senate. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Mcdaniel has encouraged him to wait until after the midterm elections, the New York Times reported.

If Trump were to announce, he would no longer be able to tap into his $100 million political action committee war chest to assist in the presidential run due to campaign finance laws. This has apparently been one sticking point against an early run, per the outlet. Political candidates are prohibited from directing super PAC money on behalf of their campaigns while vying for office. RNC officials have stressed that the party will cut off its funding of his legal bills pertaining to a New York attorney general inquiry, but Mcdaniel has recently concluded he will make an early entry anyways, according to the outlet.

Some polling has shown that Trump’s sway among Republican voters has decayed since he departed the White House. A number of Republicans, such as Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, have argued that Trump should not get the party nod in 2024 and are considering mounting a challenge should he run. John Bolton, a national security adviser under Trump, recently told CBS that he does not believe Trump will run in 2024.

“I do not think he will run in 2024. I think he knows he lost in 2020. He’ll never admit it because he’s got such a good con game going against his supporters. He fears losing in 2024. He hates being known as a loser. He’ll talk about it insistently. He may even announce he’s running, but when it comes right down to it, he won’t run,” he told the outlet.

NATIONAL POLITICS

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2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/281908776841995

The Gazette, Colorado Springs