In his first public speech since leaving office, former President Trump told the public at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he would not start a third party because “we have the Republican Party.”
Why it matters: The former president wants to profile himself as the Republicans’ “presumptive 2024 candidate” as his top contenders – including former members of his administration – face the challenge of fighting the GOP’s hottest politician.
- Trump made it clear that he is not going anywhere and treated his CPAC speech as one of his MAGA rallies, outright about topics, hitting political opponents, and listing long-held grievances.
- After predicting that President Biden would “ decisively lose the White House in four years, ” Trump said he would re-participate in 2024, echoing the false claim that he won the 2020 election: “ Actually, as you know , they just got the White House. Who knows, I could even decide to beat them for the third time, okay? ‘
- “These elections were faked,” Trump falsely claimed, before calling for severe restrictions on mail-in and out-of-office voting.
- No longer able to do this on Twitter, Trump spent much of his speech sowing election doubt and stirring up the same anger under his base that led to the violence in the Capitol on 1/6.
What to watch: 2024 contenders like Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley and Mike Pence – two of whom skipped CPAC this year – will be more likely to throw their hats in the ring than their potential challengers in office.
- The former Trump administration officials no longer have the public platform necessary to remain relevant on a daily basis.
Trump’s sneering language and the refusal to go into the background also further adds to the factions we see taking shape within the GOP.
- Mitch McConnell was forced to eat crow after being beaten by Trump following his scathing remarks about the former president’s role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The minority leader said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he were the Republican candidate in 2024.
- Mitt Romney, arguably Trump’s biggest GOP opponent in Congress, said this week that Trump would likely win the 2024 nomination if he ran.