Trump looks for an edge in early states after slow start to campaign
Katherine Doyle
Video Embed
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is showing signs of life as he begins an effort to box out other Republicans eyeing presidential runs in 2024.
Trump’s slow start over the holidays led Republicans to predict a “free-for-all” if rank-and-file voters began tilting away from the former president. Likely rivals began circling.
But a trio of recent polls shows Trump notching a double-digit lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in a hypothetical 2024 primary matchup, indicating that the contest is far from over.
The results suggest a turn for the former president after surveys showed his support wavering among Republican and Republican-leaning voters in the weeks following his campaign announcement.
DESANTIS TAKES VEILED SHOT AT MCDANIEL IN CALL FOR ‘NEW BLOOD’ AT RNC
DeSantis emerged as a top potential adversary to Trump after Republicans in his state defied the party’s lackluster midterm results and as Trump weathered the brunt of the blame for Republican losses after Democrats outperformed several high-profile Trump-endorsed candidates.
The former president’s campaign has been slow to assert itself on the ground but is inching forward with events in two of three early voting states Saturday.
Trump is expected to begin rolling out announcements about his leadership operation in South Carolina, where the former president notched a crucial win on the way to the Republican nomination in 2016. Before arriving in the state, Trump will stop in New Hampshire.
The visits mark Trump’s first to the bellwether states since announcing his candidacy and come as a new poll shows DeSantis opening up a lead over the former president in New Hampshire.
He is also preparing a return to social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, according to NBC News.
Trump’s effort to mobilize support is not clear-cut.
Signs of his wavering influence were on display as Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) waged a protracted fight for the House speakership against a group of 21 Republican holdouts this month.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a top McCarthy backer, had pressed the group to end their campaign, telling Fox News that Trump had reached out to members “urging them to vote for Kevin McCarthy for speaker.” Trump endorsed all the holdouts in their respective races, she added.
McCarthy thanked Trump for helping him “get those final votes,” but the marathon week of ballot and negotiations did little to support reports of the former president’s sway.
Greene’s effort, in particular, met visible resistance in a photograph of Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) waving off a call from “DT” from Greene’s outstretched phone. Rosendale, who voted “present” in the final ballot, told ABC News that Trump did not factor into his decision to bring the vote to a resolution.
Still, Trump took a victory lap after McCarthy’s win, touting in a Truth Social post the “very gracious” reporting that credited his influence.
“We all laughed at those articles,” said a former Trump adviser who billed the messaging as “spin.”
“There’s no way in hell, if you understand the process of how to elect the speaker, that you went 15 rounds and gave credit to the president for sealing the deal,” this person said. “If the president had sway at all, there wouldn’t have been 15 rounds — there wouldn’t have been 21 holdouts.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The post-factum from Trump, McCarthy, and others “was an opportunity for them to repair the damage to his reputation,” the source said.
Greene is vying for a spot as Trump’s running mate in 2024, NBC News reported.