More influential Republicans have come out to share their rather disparaging views about former President Donald Trump’s potential 2024 Presidential bid, saying he’d either lose a bid or warning he’d divide the GOP by running.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Vice President Mike Pence, and — most recently — former House Speaker Paul Ryan have expressed their wishes that someone other than Trump run for President in 2024.
Trump’s loudest critics within the GOP, including Paul, Bush, and outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), all no longer hold leadership roles within the party, which has been taken over by many Trump supporters.
But even without their leadership roles, the three still have considerable influence; their concerns about Trump’s viability coupled with polls showing Republican voters are ready to move on from the former President will help shape the 2024 Primaries.
Trump constantly featuring in conversations about the GOP’s future is also proof of the former President’s reach.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) pointed to the former President being a polarizing figure, stating, “Some people like Trump, and some people don’t like Trump. He’s the most dominant single figure in the party. That’s a fact.”
But Trump’s dominance could be fading, even if it is ever so slowly considering Pence, once a Trump loyalist, said “there might be somebody else I’d prefer more,” when asked last week at Georgetown University if he would vote for Trump in the 2024 Primaries.
Ryan also believes Trump’s star is fading.
Earlier this month, Ryan said, “I think Trump’s unelectability will be palpable by then.”
Jeb Bush, who ran a campaign against Trump in the 2016 Primaries, also believes Trump’s time is over because — as he put it — voters are “yearning for, A, a new generation of leadership in our country in 2024 and, B, candidates that are focused on the future, not necessarily the grievances of the past.”
