**DISCLAIMER: This article was first published in April of 2023**
Ex-President Trump finally officially announced his 2024 candidacy for the United States presidency in a big, ritzy event at his Mar-a-Lago resort turned post-White House home in Palm Beach, FL.
The announcement came not only on the heels of a catastrophic midterm election failure for the Republican Party but also amid rapidly and ever-mounting scandal and legal peril for the former president himself — ranging from the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit to the Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal investigation into his company to the Georgia Special Grand Jury investigation into his alleged election crimes in the state to the Justice Department’s stolen document investigation to the ongoing House Select Committee investigation into the January 6th Capitol insurrection that Donald Trump personally played a role in inciting.
While the entire world knew that this announcement would inevitably come, in the midst of all the aforementioned scandal and legal troubles, the former president did not receive the warm welcome or resounding support he was undoubtedly hoping for and likely even expecting from his devout supporters, both citizens and officials. Quite the opposite, actually. In fact, some of Donald Trump’s most loyal and high-ranking followers quickly began to very publicly turn on him in the direct aftermath of what shaped up to be a rather unsuccessful campaign announcement.
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Just ahead of his big speech, we reported on the news that even Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s most devout loyalists since the 2016 election, had refused to commit to endorsing the scandal-ridden ex-president, instead telling Politico, “I’ll tell you after Georgia.”
Lindsey Graham was personally embroiled in the Georgia election crimes investigation related to Trump and his people’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results in the state by heavily pressuring GA officials to “find the votes” Trump needed to overturn Biden’s win and secure the state in his favor.
Graham was far from the only one to express their disapproval of Trump’s then-impending announcement. It only got worse still once that announcement was officially made.
Following Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech, multiple senior Republicans publicly turned their back on the man who was once described as the de facto leader of the GOP.
In his speech, Trump vowed to “make America great and glorious again,” but countless Governors, representatives, senators, aides, businesspeople, donors, and high-level officials said that it’s “time for a change,” the party needs to move on from the ex-president’s “crazy” MAGA agenda, and they felt there are “better choices” who will soon throw their hats into the Republican Party ring — namely, Florida’s ultra-Right Governor Ron DeSantis.
None other than Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s own former chief of staff, spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who asked the former Trump official if he thought Donald’s announcement was a good thing for the Republican Party.
Mulvaney did not mince his words when he answered, “No, I don’t. Because I think he’s the only Republican who could lose.”
Mulvaney elaborated, saying, “If he wins in 2024, now he’s the candidate, he is the likely Republican nominee. Can he be beaten head-to-head by Ron DeSantis or Tim Scott? Sure. But it’s not going to be a head-to-head race. There will be five or six other people in the race and he’ll get the 35 percent that really support him and under the winner-take-all primary system, he’ll be the nominee.”
The former chief of staff wasn’t the only one to express such a sentiment. Multiple other key names echoed similar thoughts, including Donald Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, who said, “I think we’ll have better choices.”
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said, “Trump is correct on Biden’s failures, but his self-indulging message promoting anger has not changed. It didn’t work in 2022 and won’t work in 2024. There are better choices.”
Ex-New Jersey governor and former Trump loyalist Chris Christie also weighed in and said the midterm elections prove that voters have “rejected” the MAGA movement at the ballot box.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu added, “He’s doing it from a place of defensiveness, of his own self-opportunity and weakness. So he’s announcing he’s going to run for president at a low point in his political career. I don’t know how that’s going to work out, man.”
While top Republican donor and technology entrepreneur from Florida, Ricky Caplin, said, “I have tremendous respect for President Trump and the effectiveness of some of his policies and initiatives, but I think it’s time for a change for our party and country.”
The Daily Mail published an all-encompassing piece, detailing the scope of the Republican disdain for Donald Trump in the wake of his announcement.
Featured image via screen capture
