The “Who is running in 2024?” tea leaves thread

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Gaetz headed to New Hampshire:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gaetz-to-new-hampshire-to-help-raise-money-for-fellow-republicans

Multiple Republican sources in the Granite State told Fox News on Wednesday that the three-term representative and close ally of former President Trump will headline the Nashua Republican City Committee’s annual "Steak Out" fundraiser.

Again, not sure if Gaetz is really toying with a 2024 presidential run or not....he seems unlikely to run if Trump does, but maybe also unlikely to run if DeSantis does, given his hyping of DeSantis.  But he is nonetheless planning this NH trip, and it looks like he's also considering a departure from Congress in order to work for Newsmax:

https://www.axios.com/matt-gaetz-retirement-congress-newsmax-e1a0e6bb-0279-4e97-ab22-508e28f4347a.html

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has privately told confidants he's seriously considering not seeking re-election and possibly leaving Congress early for a job at Newsmax, three sources with direct knowledge of the talks tell Axios.

Not sure if leaving Congress means he's more or less likely to run for president.  Presumably *less* likely to run for president in 2024, since he wouldn't have much time in the new job before a presidential campaign.  But a media job could increase his profile, and set him up better for a future run, in 2028 or later.

Well, there's also this issue now:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-joel-greenberg-matt-gaetz-investigation-sex-trafficking-20210330-moyyt73tbzhrlmpjcwkqv2oeyq-story.html

Oh wow. Gaetz just became the frontrunner for the nomination.

It is a Toss-up if he is running for governor against Cuomo.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-siege-coronavirus-pandemic-elections-3d9480c897abcc9ae6a2388cf27b29ce

Hagerty said he met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this week. They even talked about the decision Trump is facing over whether to run again in 2024 — Hagerty said Trump is focused on the 2022 elections and hasn’t yet decided whether to run.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Notably, Trump allowed DeSantis to share the stage with him. While Trump used his speech to share with donors that he was “disappointed” in Pence, he has privately told advisers that if he runs again, he wants DeSantis as his running mate.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/04/11/gop-donors-privately-pan-trumps-horrible-rnc-speech-492435

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP/status/1381705335505879044


https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb

Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, often mentioned as a possible 2024 GOP presidential contender, said Monday that she would not seek her party’s nomination if former President Donald Trump opts to run a second time.

“Yes,” Haley said, when asked if she would support a second bid by Trump, in whose Cabinet she served for the first half of his administration.

“I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it,” Haley said, asked by The Associated Press if a possible Trump bid could preclude her own effort, were he to announce first. “That’s something that we’ll have a conversation about at some point, if that decision is something that has to be made.”

Haley spoke Monday after touring the campus of South Carolina State University, an HBCU in Orangeburg where current President James E. Clark showed her campus improvements including a revamped student center and state-of-the-art cancer research and cybersecurity facilities.

The visit was one of Haley’s first public events in months in her home state.

Since her 2016 resignation as South Carolina governor to join Trump’s Cabinet, Haley has maintained a delicate balancing act among Republicans who have in some ways been sharply split on the now-former president. In two years at the United Nations, Haley treaded a path of speaking out against Trump while not directly drawing his ire. She left the office on her own terms in 2018, a rarity then during a wave of staffing turmoil.

Haley has made several moves in recent years to fuel speculation her sights are on higher office. In 2019, she and her family moved back to South Carolina, purchasing a home in the Kiawah Island community. She also launched a political action committee, published a memoir and commanded as much as $200,000 for speaking appearances.

On Monday, Haley defended her former boss, who this past weekend lit into fellow Republicans including his own vice president, saying he was “disappointed” in Mike Pence and calling Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “stone-cold loser.”

“I think former President Trump’s always been opinionated,” Haley said, asked about Trump’s weekend comments and if they hurt the GOP. “Just because he left being president, that’s not going to stop. But I think what he also talked about were all the successes that he had in the administration. And I think that’s what Republicans are uniting on. ... Every day Biden and Kamala Harris are in office unites the Republicans.”

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Notably, Trump allowed DeSantis to share the stage with him. While Trump used his speech to share with donors that he was “disappointed” in Pence, he has privately told advisers that if he runs again, he wants DeSantis as his running mate.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/04/11/gop-donors-privately-pan-trumps-horrible-rnc-speech-492435

Lol a Trump (R-FL)/DeSantis (R-FL) ticket would mean that Florida’s electoral votes would be unavailable to Trump even if he wins the state. He would have to move back to New York...

I don't believe Trump will run again (but certainly I hope so) nor that he chooses DeSantis if he runs.

But I do believe that DeSantis will run. In that case the fact, that Trump likes him, is very important, I think.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Trump on 2024:

https://dailycaller.com/2021/05/04/donald-trump-2024-candace-owens/

“I’m absolutely enthused. I look forward to doing an announcement at the right time,” Trump told The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens about his 2024 election plans. Trump would enter the Republican primary field as a prohibitive favorite if he does run for president again.

“It’s very early, but I think people are going to be very, very happy … when I make a certain announcement,” Trump continued. “For campaign finance reasons, you really can’t do it too early because it becomes a whole different thing. Otherwise, I’d give you an answer that I think you’d be very happy with. So we are looking at that very, very seriously. And all I’ll say is, stay tuned.”

- snip -

Good grief, the man is certifiably nuts. (Well, we already knew that, but based on this, he's proving it even more.)

Some reporter has got to ask him this question: "Sir, you repeatedly claimed that election 2020 was stolen from you, that it was rigged and it had massive election fraud. If the last election was rigged against you, why wouldn't the next election be rigged as well? How can you possibly win since the opposition party still has the means of rigging the system again?"

Not, if GOP wins back the House. Unlikely, that Trump runs, if GOP will not have won it.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Trump on 2024:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/569181-trump-teases-potential-2024-bid-amid-afghanistan-crisis?rl=1

“We won it twice. I've won it twice and now I have to win it again. I guess if we're going to save the country, look ... I'll make a decision,” Trump told conservative talk show host Lisa Boothe on her podcast “The Truth with Lisa Booth.”

“It won't be maybe for a little while. You know, a lot of people would like to see a decision immediately, but perhaps there's also a big group, including maybe myself, that would like to see it after the midterms,” he continued.

I expect him to tease it, but ultimately not run, he seems to love having the spotlight, but doesn't actually like doing much, becoming a GOP primary kingmaker would allow him to do just that.

He'll be taken away of his kingmaker's status as soon as GOP gets a new nominee. How does he suppose to handle it? He's running (I hope).

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1430976084179312642

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1433975840988090369

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/FDRLST/status/1438542413497262083

Trump said the corporate media’s kid gloves treatment of Biden was proof that the country’s news media was corrupt and untrustworthy.

“We don’t have a free press anymore. We have nothing close to a free press. We have a very corrupted press,” he said.

To end the interview, the New York real estate mogul and television celebrity-turned-president demurred when asked whether he planned to run for the presidency again in 2024.

“Well a lot of people want me to, but I won’t be be announcing anything on that until the appropriate time.”

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Lindsey Graham in Michigan, tells a crowd that he "hopes Trump runs again"

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told a crowd of Michigan Republicans on Saturday night that he hopes former President Donald Trump runs again in 2024.

The GOP senator's remark came on the second day of the Michigan Republican Party's leadership conference on Mackinac Island and three days after Trump sent out a statement criticizing Graham. His comment on Trump running again drew applause from the crowd of GOP insiders and activists.

"I don't think Trump is listening. He might be," Graham said. "I hope President Trump runs again."

I'm not sure why Graham would even bother to speak at a leadership conference in a battleground state...unless he's setting himself up as a candidate if Trump doesn't run.

When you put this way, it makes sense. In fact, the disgusting neocon, Graham, is very good pick for Trump - Graham is a quick thinker, a masterly orator and will ease pressure on Trump being erratic on FP? As for Graham himself, it might give him a "grip" over Trump's base. And Trump's old.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1453462218553675783


"I just wonder, will I be allowed to run for president again if I move to another country? No, I guess I’ll just stick it out..."

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

Per Maggie Haberman of Failing New York Times:

https://twitter.com/JohnBerman/status/1455124345525788674

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/RSBNetwork/status/1461133592348835851

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

“Trump broke Ted Cruz,” Cheney said in a clip aired on CNN. "A real man would be defending his wife, and his father and the Constitution.”

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1481004698454929414

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/RickFolbaum/status/1481110981099065344

Trump vs DeSantis race has begun? 

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1481733475057156099
LOL

Looks like 100% reliable source!

By the way... I have information that will lead to the arrest of Hillary Clinton.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1483810638094811139

Fingers crossed.