In a sign of Trump’s weakening foothold and new heightened uncertainty, some longtime allies postponed Trump’s planned presidential announcement next week as a red wave victory lap that never materialized. I am urging Mr. Trump to do so.
A person familiar with the talks, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to reflect a private conversation. “We’ve had tremendous success. Why would anything change?”
“The Republican chairman of a wide range of states expected Donald Trump to deliver a victory last night, and he didn’t. They’re disappointed,” said Trump’s victory in Pennsylvania. 2016 campaign chief adviser and longtime ally David Urban, said Wednesday. “It’s clear that the heart of the Republican Party is in Florida, and I’m not talking about Mar-a-Lago.”
The immediate cause for Trump’s advisers to discuss delaying a promised “very big announcement” scheduled for Tuesday at his resort Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. It was a runoff vote. Trump’s handpicked Senate nominee, football legend Herschel Walker, trailed incumbent Democrat Rafael G. Warnock by about a point as of Wednesday afternoon, with both nominees in the lead. Not clearing his 50%, a runoff vote was held on December 6th.
“It’s all about Herschel. President Trump’s best bet is to elect Herschel Walker,” said Jason Miller, a longtime adviser and sometimes spokesman to President Trump. I’m not the only one who says to do everything in your power to make it happen.”
Miller said Trump would make a decision soon, and he didn’t realize there were no people around him who wanted him to stick to his original plan. Five advisers who are in regular contact with Trump said they hoped the president would wait until after the runoff.
A spokeswoman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
For Republicans, the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff ballot has provided jarring replays of the two January 2021 Senate elections. This time, Trump was primarily focused on his own grievances about the 2020 election, rather than dragging Republican candidates to the finish line. they lost in the end. One of them lost to Warnock.
Eager to jump into the 2024 election, Trump has launched a last-minute scramble by aides and Republican leaders to stop him from announcing his candidacy on Monday night, the eve of the election. started. Instead, Trump said he would make an announcement next Tuesday.
But the election results so far have failed to step into the explosion Trump hoped to take advantage of, with a brief, sober remark Tuesday night from Mar-a-Lago’s watch party in the path of the hurricane and the subject. I just did. to evacuation orders.
Two people who were with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night said he was feeling happy, including one of them, Mehmet, his endorsing candidate in the Pennsylvania Senate race. Said he spent time on Wednesday about Oz being defeated. Republican Tribute to DeSantis.
By contrast, DeSantis spent election night, where supporters chanted him to run for president, and celebrated a whopping nearly 20-point win. He said Tuesday’s results were “disastrous” for Trump.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t think anyone in Florida is a Republican,” said Brian Ballard, a longtime Florida lobbyist. He has realigned the Florida voter coalition that I believe will benefit the party across the board.
Two supporters of DeSantis said they would wait until the Florida legislature ends in May for the governor to announce his candidacy for the White House, and meanwhile campaign for Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about Georgia’s runoff vote or DeSantis’ plans for the 2024 race.
Those who have worked with DeSantis say his moves are hard to judge in game as he relies on himself, his wife and his chief of staff to make decisions. Tallahassee’s longtime legislative aide said Tuesday’s results show DeSantis is a viable alternative to Trump, but it may not matter if Trump goes barrels ahead anyway. Said he couldn’t.
“At this point, no one thinks DeSantis’ path is head-on for Trump,” the aide said, predicting that Trump would “destroy the party.”
Even before Tuesday’s election results, Trump saw DeSantis as a threat and Trump didn’t wait until the polls were finished to start attacking him, according to advisers to the former president. as “Ron DeSanctimonious”. He threatened on Monday to release harmful information about DeSantis if he runs for office, according to The Wall Street Journal.
DeSantis did not respond, except that he held his own campaign event on Saturday, competing with Trump’s rally in Miami. DeSantis’ crowd and positive news coverage have further frustrated Trump, who said he didn’t appreciate his support in 2018, according to people close to him.
Abandoned at a closed seaside club on Wednesday as a hurricane made landfall in Palm Beach and his advisers tried to rush home, Trump resumed swiping, de Santis on Tuesday in Florida in 2020. In percentage terms, DeSantis won by about 20 points, while Trump led the state by less than 4 points, with higher voter turnout. ran for president in the year of
DeSantis wasn’t the only Republican to challenge Trump in the 2024 election. Senator Tim Scott (RS.C.) said in his victory speech that his grandfather “wanted to live long enough to possibly see another person of color elected president of the United States.” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin appeared on Fox News to discuss his own White House aspirations. I am always humbled by this discussion. ”
Trump’s estranged vice president, Mike Pence, is also planning a 2024 run, with a book due next week. “It was a year with all the wind behind us, and it was supposed to be a better night.” Yes, and a lot of Republicans are talking about the past.I think we can win on the issue.We need to get a better candidate.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (Republican), who won re-election by 15 points to Trump-backed Senate candidate Don Balduk, said he would not declare his candidacy before the Georgia runoff. urged Trump. “It’s a terrible idea,” he said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday. “I don’t know who is advising the former president to announce next week. They should be fired.”
The close adviser said Trump believes he is being blamed for the Republican party’s underperforming performance without being credited for boosting the candidate. In an interview posted ahead of the results with network NewsNation on Tuesday, Trump said: If they lose, I shouldn’t be the one to blame. ”
Many Republicans are particularly nervous about Trump in Georgia, as he accuses him of fraudulent billings that stifled voter turnout in the 2021 Senate runoff. Trump then launched a major unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Ravensperger, who refused to cooperate in his efforts to overturn the election results. I did. Both were re-elected on Tuesday, with Trump-backed Walker trailing Kemp by about five points.
“Historical evidence is that we lost the most recent election where Trump was involved in our state,” said the Republican strategist in Georgia, who spoke on condition of anonymity, speaking candidly about the leak. Speak. In the state’s four elections since November 2020 — the presidential election, the 2021 Senate runoff, the 2022 Republican primary, and Tuesday’s election — the candidate Trump has endorsed is I lost.
“We had an answer,” strategists said of the state implications if Trump launched a massive campaign for Walker in the runoff. “It would be a disaster.”
Republican officials are preparing to conduct a major operation in Georgia and were in talks with top donors Wednesday about funding the effort, according to people familiar with the matter.
Races not yet convened in Arizona and Nevada will determine whether Georgia’s runoff vote will determine control of the Senate or fill in either party’s majority. Even with a win, the split-screen between Trump and DeSantis on Tuesday left many Republicans pledging allegiance to his election denial for lowering the Republican Party’s prospects. Candidates are criticized.
Even when Mr. Trump won the nomination, he often lagged behind other Republicans. In Ohio, for example, his Trump-backing J.D. Vance defeated Democrat Tim Ryan to win the Senate seat, but Mike fell short of Governor DeWine by 9.5 points and about $40 million from outside groups. depended on the support of In other close Senate elections. Vance didn’t thank Trump in his Tuesday remarks.
“In Pennsylvania, as in places across the country, the toxic effect Donald Trump has had on outright winnable races has to be the biggest lesson,” on Tuesday. “His endorsement for a candidate whose primary attribute was clearly loyalty to Donald Trump became a big deal. It seems to have gone down.”
Toomey, who convicted Trump in the impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 riots, does not classify Oz as a “super-MAGA,” but he does not classify him as gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano or Trump. He said his odds were downgraded by other extreme candidates who supported him. .
“There is a growing view that his influence is waning,” he said. “I suspect last night’s election will accelerate that process, because it is inevitable that his influence will be very useless for the party and the outlook, which will certainly weigh on people’s considerations in 2024. is.”
Hannah Knowles, Liz Goodwin, and Michael Scherer contributed to the report.
