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image source, Archyde.com
Former US President Donald Trump announced this Wednesday that he will compete for the candidacy of the Republican Party in the presidential elections scheduled for November 5, 2024.
Trump made the announcement during a lengthy speech from his Mar-a-Lago, Florida residence, which began with the phrase: “America’s comeback starts right now”.
“Today I am announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States,” he said in front of dozens of his supporters. “This is not a task for a candidate, It’s a task for a big move“, he added.
This is an unusual move for a former US president who has already lost a presidential election.
“This will not be my campaign, it will be our campaign. We are going to unify the people,” he indicated in his speech, in which he harshly attacked President Joe Biden and in which, as he did in 2016, he once again presented a dark panorama of USA
image source, Archyde.com
Trump made the announcement from his Florida residence.
recurring themes
Donald Trump mostly stuck to his script that he read during his presidential announcement speech, offering an indication of how he plans to frame his next campaign.
He bragged about his record as presidentglossed over the difficulties and missteps during the covid-19 pandemic and completely ignored his months of election denial after his presidential defeat that culminated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol by a mob of his followers.
He then directed his aim at the man who defeated him, Joe Biden, paying particular attention to rising inflation, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the rise of undocumented migration at the US southern border.
Interestingly, he tiptoed through the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying only that it would not have happened on his watch.
He defended the Republican performance during the recent midterm elections.
“I didn’t need this,” he said after announcing his candidacy. “I had a very nice and easy life.”
But according to BBC journalist Anthony Zurcher, “this speech suggests otherwise.” “He can’t resist once again trying to claim the national spotlight.”
image source, Getty Images
Trump could face DeSantis for the Republican nomination.
Republican criticisms and their challenges
Trump announced his decision a week after the midterm elections in the United States were held, in which the Democratic Party managed to maintain control of the Senate, despite the threats of the former Republican president to achieve that a “red tide “take over Congress.
Although it appears that the Republicans will control the House of Representatives, members of his own party have accused Trump of being one of the main people responsible for the unfavorable result in the Senate.
Many of the more radical candidates that Trump supported during the campaign ended up losing their races.
For the 2024 elections, Trump will face difficulties that did not exist in the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
First, Republicans will remember his inability to repeal Democratic health care reforms and his repeated promises of infrastructure investment that never materialized.
In addition, he will be forced to defend his role in the attack on the United States Capitol. The midterm elections demonstrated that what happened that day, and Trump’s words and actions in the weeks leading up to it, can still influence voter behavior.
On the other hand, he faces several judicial processes: a criminal investigation for rigging the elections in Georgia, a civil fraud case against his business empire in New York, a defamation suit involving an accusation of sexual assault and federal investigations into his role in the attack on the Capitol and his handling of classified material after having been president.
The most recent polls from conservative groups attribute more support to Ron DeSantis than Trump among Republican voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that have early voting in the Republican nomination process.
Following the midterm elections, Trump warned the Florida governor to refrain from running for the GOP nomination, even though he is considered the big winner by being re-elected as Florida governor.
In addition, his age could also play against him. If he wins the presidency, Trump would be 78 when he is sworn in. Although he is the same age that Joe Biden was when he entered the White House, he would be the second-oldest president in US history.
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