Ya HAD to know this was coming….
All the media noise about Republicans eyeing their parties nomination where NOT gonna just sit by and let Donald Trump ‘lock’ out the field….
Why would they?
I mean Trump is still locked in the 2020 election…
And he LOST that one…..
Republicans looking to run in 2024 once lived in fear of crossing former President Donald Trump.
That’s starting to change.
Over the past few weeks, three would-be presidential candidates who hail from the conservative wing of the Republican Party — Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — have prodded at or even outright criticized the former president’s record. After spending years lavishing praise on Trump and touting his policies, they are zeroing in on key moments from his tenure in office, from his pandemic response, to his words and actions regarding Russia, to the prison reform legislation he signed into law.
Unlike several potential 2024 contenders who hail from the more moderate wing of the GOP, the three are being guarded in their criticism of Trump. But each critique has attracted special attention given the near-lockstep party support Trump has commanded for years. Taken together, they highlight how the prospective candidates are staking out calculated distance from Trump with an eye toward establishing their own political identities, making clear that they aren’t carbon copies of the former president and signaling to donors and party activists that they’re serious about running in 2024.
“The clock is ticking for anyone thinking about 2024. If you’re interested in the next cycle, you have to start defining yourself and your potential opponents,”….
….
To some, the criticism of Trump from within his own party — cautious as it may be — indicates that Trump’s support has begun to soften.
“While Trump is still very influential within the party, that influence diminishes more each day. It’s natural as each day moves us further from his presidency,” said Mike DuHaime, a veteran GOP strategist and former RNC political director.
But while Cotton, Pence and DeSantis have demonstrated a willingness to carefully take on the former president, it remains to be seen whether any of them would be willing to run against him. Still, behind the scenes, each have begun assembling political organizations that could be used to lay the groundwork for national campaigns..
Chad Phillips
@ChadwickAPhil
GOP Rep.
@AdamKinzinger
to my colleague
@jimsciutto
: “If Donald Trump gets the Republican nomination, there are many of us that will will move heaven and earth to ensure he doesn’t win. I think that’s the most important thing. He can not be President again.”