Nine months have passed since the 45th US President Donald Trump left the White House. But Republican activists are still signaling that they will cheer if Trump becomes the GOP presidential nominee in the 2024 election.
Many Americans at the core of the Republican Party continue to enthusiastically attend rallies with the 45th US president, Voice of America said. They reject claims by Democrats that Trump is personally responsible for his supporters' storming of the Capitol on January 6 this year, and still do not believe that Biden won the election legally. Observers say Trump still has the charisma that has made him almost a cult figure among Republican supporters.
A number of younger Republicans are vying for the GOP leadership, including Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio. At the same time, Jason Miller, one of Donald Trump's assistants, recently told CNN that the likelihood of his boss in the 2024 presidential race is "99 or 100 percent." This prospect is alarming for the part of political scientists who sees in Trump the inclinations of an authoritarian leader and even compares him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“As president, Trump seemed to follow the textbook of authoritarianism, and therefore began to resemble Putin. All these techniques are clearly visible to a person who worked in Russia: brick-by-brick destruction of democratic foundations, neutralization of political parties, ”said Fiona Hill, a well-known political scientist and ex-White House analyst for Russia. - It's just like in the Russian Federation, where the existence of the ruling United Russia party, in general, is meaningless. It's just a resource that supports Putin. That's Trump too: he is not that much a Republican ... ".
In confirmation of these words, Republican leaders in Congress continue to regularly visit for consultations at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Interestingly, even Trump's age of 75 is no longer an obstacle to the presidency: after all, his former and possibly future Democratic rival Joe Biden will turn 79 in November.
“If Trump enters the presidential race, I think he will receive the nomination. Republican Congressman Barry Laudermilk said recently. “He had nothing to do with the January 6 events. It seems to me that this is sucked from the finger. And I don't think his reputation within the party has been damaged in any way. "
A similar opinion is expressed by Laudermilk's colleague, Republican Congressman Steve Scalize: “Trump wants to help us return the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 elections. Enthusiasm for this is today more than ever. And ex-President Trump can really help us. "
Democratic lawmakers have not yet publicly responded to talks about Donald Trump's possible participation in the presidential election. But at the state level, where local elections are held, Democratic leaders say Trump's name could help rally Democratic voters against him.
A lot of the fate of the Republican presidential candidates, some political scientists believe, will depend on the midterm elections to Congress next year. If the Republicans are successful at them, then on the crest of this wave, Donald Trump may very well become the sole presidential candidate from his party.