Topline
Former Vice President Mike Pence will launch a campaign for president within the next two weeks, the Messenger reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources, pitting him against his one-time boss, former President Donald Trump, and a growing field of GOP candidates vying for the party’s 2024 nomination.
Key Facts
Donald Trump: The former president maintains a strong, but early, lead in polls despite his multiple, escalating legal woes that he’s turned into a key talking point for his campaign—casting them as “political witch hunts,” a messaging strategy that appears to be resonating with voters.
Ron DeSantis: DeSantis launched his candidacy May 24 in a glitch-plagued announcement on Twitter, but he didn’t mention Trump until the following day, when he accused him in a radio interview of veering to the left on culture issues—DeSantis kicked off his campaign travels in the early primary states of Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire this week.
Mike Pence: The former vice president will make “an announcement regarding his future plans” in a televised town hall, according to the Messenger, which notes he is scheduled to participate in a CNN town hall in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 7—Pence has left open the possibility of a presidential run as he’s traveled the country promoting his memoir So Help Me God, and has the backing of a new super-PAC: “Committed to America.”
Chris Christie: Christie will debut his campaign on June 6 in a speech from Saint Anselm College, Axios reported, following months of national travel and media appearances in which Christie—a one-time Trump ally who has become one of his most vocal critics—has cast himself as the only candidate who has the courage to take on Trump.
Tim Scott: The South Carolina senator, who announced his candidacy on May 22, is taking a more optimistic approach than some of his rivals, leaning into his Christian faith, a strategy that led him to secure the endorsement of Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican.
Asa Hutchinson: Hutchinson, who served eight years as governor of Arkansas until the end of last year, launched his campaign on April 26—Hutchinson has been a vocal critic of Trump, going as far to say the January 6 Capitol riot “disqualifies” him from running again and that he should drop out of the race after being indicted in New York.
Chris Sununu: The New Hampshire governor, who took steps toward a potential run in February with the launch of a new super-PAC, told CBS on May 4 he would make a decision “in the next month or so,” and has been a vocal critic of Trump, telling The View Thursday: “He’s not gonna be the nominee,” referring to Trump as “the orange-haired elephant in the room.”
Doug Burgum: The North Dakota governor, who recently told North Dakota newspaper the Forum, “there’s definitely a yearning for some alternatives [to Trump right now,” will make an announcement in Fargo on June 7, another indication he could enter the race, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the plans.
Nikki Haley: After vowing not to run against Trump, the former South Carolina governor became his first official challenger in February, calling for a “new generation of leadership” in a video announcement, while lamenting President Joe Biden’s “abysmal record,” but she has largely avoided Trump jabs and has instead focused her attacks on DeSantis, who her campaign recently called a “mini Trump . . . without the charm.”
Vivek Ramaswamy: Less than a week after Haley announced her campaign, the 37-year-old investment firm manager—who made Forbes’ list of America’s richest entrepreneurs under 40 in 2016 with a net worth of $600 million at the time—entered the fray with a video announcement in which he dubs “covidism, climatism and gender ideology” as “new secular religions,” a statement that builds on what he calls an “anti-woke” message detailed in his 2021 book, “Woke, Inc.”
Mike Pompeo: Also out with a new book titled Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, the former secretary of state told CBS in January he would decide on a 2024 presidential bid in “the next handful of months.”
Larry Elder: The former 2021 California gubernatorial candidate and conservative radio talk show host announced his long-shot candidacy in a Fox News interview on April 20, where he told ex-host Tucker Carlson, “America is in decline.”
Big Number
54%. That’s the percentage of GOP voters who said they would cast their ballots for Trump in a hypothetical 2024 primary, compared to 21% who said they would vote for DeSantis, according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker.
Key Background
With the primaries nearly a year away, Trump remains the early front-runner despite his recent indictment in Manhattan Criminal Court and a Manhattan grand jury verdict that found him liable of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump has used his various legal woes to rally voters and Republicans by casting the various investigations against him as political hit jobs. In recent months, his polling lead has climbed as he’s ramped up attacks on DeSantis, taking jabs at his personality and casting him as “disloyal” after his endorsement for DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial bid was widely credited for helping him win the election. The DeSantis campaign got off to a rocky start on Wednesday when his Twitter announcement was delayed by glitches on the platform that owner Elon Musk blamed on an overloaded server as more than 600,000 users tuned into the discussion. DeSantis is laying groundwork to run to the right of Trump, pointing to the string of right-wing legislation he signed as governor, including bills that ban gender-affirming care for minors, restrict the use of preferred pronouns in schools and defund diversity and equity initiatives at public colleges.
Surprising Fact
Trump’s advisors and political allies reportedly view the growing candidate field as a boon to Trump in hopes the other competitors will draw votes from DeSantis and elevate Trump to the nomination. “The general thinking is that Scott getting in is another sign that there is blood in the water for DeSantis,” a Trump adviser told Politico.
Tangent
President Joe Biden formally announced his re-election campaign on April 25 in a video where he trashed “MAGA extremists,” but did not explicitly mention Trump or DeSantis. Polls show both DeSantis and Trump barely beating Biden in hypothetical general election matchups, according to RealClearPolitics polling average, which shows DeSantis with a 0.6-point lead and Trump with a 1.4-point lead over Biden.
Further Reading
Former Gov. Nikki Haley Launches Presidential Run—She’s First To Challenge Trump (Forbes)
Trump Launches 2024 Presidential Bid (Forbes)
Biden Announces 2024 Reelection Campaign (Forbes)
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