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The former US president intends to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on Tuesday, but several voices within the Republican Party accuse him of being responsible for the mixed results recorded during the midterm elections and would prefer to turn the page “Trumpism ” .
Donald Trump has promised a “very important announcement” on Tuesday, November 15 and a speech that “will probably be the most important in the history of the United States”. Should he confirm his candidacy for the White House race in 2024, future historians will no doubt appreciate differently the memorable character of this announcement that will be made in a context marked by headwinds.
The Republican billionaire summoned the press to his luxurious residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida at 21:00 (2:00 GMT Wednesday). “President Trump will announce his candidacy in the presidential elections on Tuesday,” assured Jason Miller, one of his advisers, promising a “very professional, very clean” speech.
But after the Nov. 8 midterm elections and the absence of a Republican “red wave” in Congress, Donald Trump is seen as primarily responsible for what is now seen as a failure – with Republicans failing to take the initiative. uncertainty still hovers over the fate of the House of Representatives.
>> To see, our Debate: “US Midterm Elections: Democrats Stand Up Against Republicans”
Kingmaker’s reputation of Donald Trump, who was personally involved during the campaign, was badly damaged. Several fledgling candidates who received his support, particularly because they endorsed the thesis that Donald Trump was a victim of electoral fraud in 2020, were beaten on Nov. 8. The examples of Senate candidates Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania and Blake Masters of Arizona are thus regularly highlighted. In total, more than 20 Republican candidates – in the Senate, in the House of Representatives or for a governorship – supported by Donald Trump have lost, according to a list updated by Newsweek.
“When we look at the accounts, the outgoing Republicans are almost all re-elected and the ones who have lost are the Trumpists, with the exception of JD Vance elected senator of Ohio and Joe Lombardo elected governor of Nevada”, analyzes Jean-Éric Branaa, professor at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas, specialist in American politics.
“The third election in a row that Donald Trump causes us to lose”
While midterms are usually a referendum for or against the incumbent president in the White House, the omnipresence of Donald Trump during the election campaign has transformed the ballot: if 32% of voters voted to oppose Joe Biden, 28% he did so to oppose Donald Trump, according to a poll cited by NBC News.
As a result, more and more Republicans want to turn the page on Donald Trump, casting a shadow over his presidential plans. “This is the third consecutive election Donald Trump has lost us,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan told CNN on Sunday, referring to the 2018 midterms, 2020 presidential elections, and 2022 midterms. .
Other big names in the party, such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or former Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan, have also criticized Donald Trump for meddling in the campaign, acting as a barrier to voters without party affiliation.
For his part, the former president plays the victim and attacks, as usual, the Republican Party. On Sunday, he very aggressively blamed the rout of Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, who had been a strong ally during his tenure but distanced himself from the storming of the Capitol.
“He screwed up the election and everyone hates him,” he belched on his Truth Social, accusing him of not investing enough money in the campaign of Blake Masters, a candidate he was supporting in Arizona.
“No longer able to build enough momentum”
Donald Trump also attacked the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the television channel Fox News and the newspaper New York Post, guilty according to him of now supporting the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, for 2024. The New York tabloid thus put the latter on the front page, the day after the election, with the headline “DeFuture”, before burying Donald Trump the next day by caricaturing him in the form of Humpty Dumpty, a character in an egg-shaped nursery rhyme that falls from ‘a wall.
“Donald Trump is totally demonetized, says Jean-Éric Branaa. Today he is no longer able to create sufficient momentum. await solutions on inflation, on the energy crisis, on wages, he offers nothing.
Another obstacle that complicates his ascent to the White House: the many legal troubles, which could end up disqualifying him. The former president is the subject of several investigations for his role in the attack on the Congress building on January 6, 2021, or for his handling of the White House archives.
However, the businessman turned politician has shown in the past that he shouldn’t be buried too quickly. At 76, he retains undeniable popularity in a part of the Republican electorate and so far polls have always shown him as the winner of a Republican primary.
