Donald Trump’s months-long campaign hiatus is coming to an end.
In a bid to maximize his status as the only declared 2024 Republican presidential nominee so far, the former president will make consecutive appearances in New Hampshire and South Carolina on Saturday, unveiling him from the steps of the state capitol. Veil on the leadership team at Palmetto State.
The two stops in two early voting states offer Trump a chance to revive his slow campaign before any rivals risk joining his primary field. The former president’s aide also believes his return to the race will help allay concerns raised both publicly and privately by allies, former advisers and some of his would-be opponents about his ability to defeat President Joe Biden’s rematch.
Trump will first test his candidacy with a keynote address to hundreds of New Hampshire Republican leaders and grassroots activists at the state’s annual convention in Salem on Saturday. He will then head to South Carolina, the state that paved the way for him to become the Republican nominee in 2016, where he is expected to post some support as he looks to repeat past performances. One of those endorsements will come from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and newly elected Republican Rep. Russell Frye, who have endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign, also plan to show their support by attending.
“The former president is still very popular in South Carolina, but there are other mitigating factors, like other people in the race, or how he fared in the primary with the generals. He’s 1-1 now, and [the 2024 election] I think it’s going to be a tiebreaker,” said former South Carolina House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, who served as state director for Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Trump’s current allies insist he is riding the tailwind after Mehta announced on Thursday that his Facebook and Instagram accounts would be restored soon, and recent news that classified documents were found at the home of Biden and former Vice President Mike Trump. Down the line for campaigning pennies. Sources close to the Trump campaign also pointed to Kevin McCarthy’s successful bid for House speaker — if drawn — as a turning point for the former president, who had tried to convince McCarthy of his intransigence after a day-long standoff. Pai takes credit for backing the California Republican. On the House floor.
In recent weeks, Trump has also taken steps to build out his campaign infrastructure, moving several staffers to Florida and opening a new campaign office in Palm Beach, just miles from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“Things certainly feel good. We feel good,” said a source close to Trump.
But the enthusiasm that gave Trump a double-digit margin for first place in South Carolina this time around was less apparent, according to several sources in Palmetto State. That may be because two native South Carolinians — Senator Tim Scott and former Gov. Nikki Haley — are also weighing a presidential bid, potentially appealing to those who prefer fresh faces or prefer their own backyard Candidate voters.
“I think a lot of people are keeping the gunpowder dry until Nicky or Tim makes a decision, and I’d fall into that category,” said Sen. Wes Cramer of South Carolina, who will not attend Trump’s meeting on Saturday. activity. Climer said he has five young children and he stays home with them.
“Nikki and Tim have a lot of friends across the state, and for good reason. Nikki is a terrific governor. Tim is a terrific senator. I think a lot of people in South Carolina are dying to know or they Both make decisions based on the president’s decision,” Cramer said.
Dallas Woodhouse, a Republican operative and executive director of the South Carolina Policy Council, has spoken with Republican groups in counties across the state in recent weeks and told CNN that many voters do not plan to support Trump in 2024. Trump, despite his previous campaign success. state. While Trump twice won South Carolina, a deep red state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, his defeat in the 2020 election and the election of candidates Trump favored in 2022 Poor performances in key races in 2019 have fueled unease about the Democratic presidential nominee. He has the ability to win back the White House within two years.
Republicans in South Carolina “seem to still have a good opinion of Trump,” Woodhouse said, but “there’s a certain amount of people who’ve lost favor with him, and there’s a lot of people interested in winning who don’t believe in him.” It’s the best way to win.”
Another state official said many high-profile Republicans and state officials would not attend Trump’s event, but a source close to Trump denied that the state’s GOP officials were working against Trump. , insisting there will be a solid showing on Saturday. One official who will be absent from the Trump event is state Attorney General Alan Wilson, the 45th president who endorsed his re-election last year.
“Due to his involvement in the ongoing Murdo trial and other official conflicts, Attorney General Wilson was unable to attend,” his spokesman, Robert Kittle, said in an email. Kittle did not answer additional questions about Wilson’s plans for support in the 2024 primary.
Two Republican strategists in the state said they thought it was an odd decision for Trump to campaign on Saturday because state lawmakers currently in session typically want to spend time with their families.
It was unclear how many members of Trump’s 2016 South Carolina leadership team agreed to help his 2024 campaign. Reached by email, Ed McMullen, the former U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, said he was currently traveling in Europe, when asked if he would be part of Trump’s leadership team again this cycle , he did not respond. McMullen chaired Trump’s first presidential campaign in South Carolina and later worked on his transition team and his inaugural committee after he was elected president. Meanwhile, former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Ball confirmed to CNN that he is on Trump’s 2024 leadership team in the state and will be in attendance on Saturday.
Ball took a shot at Haley just days after the former governor sounded closer than ever to launching her own 2024 campaign in a Fox News interview. “Stay tuned,” Hailey told the network.
“She wouldn’t even scratch,” said Ball, who lost the 2010 gubernatorial primary to Haley.
One of Haley’s supporters, former South Carolina GOP chairman Carton Dawson, said Trump’s campaign has had little leverage in the state since he began his bid for the White House last November. As Trump prepares to roll out Graham and others’ endorsements, Dawson said those “are great, but don’t name the winner of the South Carolina primary.”
Trump aides and allies have spent much of the past week on the phone with members of the South Carolina legislature in an attempt to put together a big show at the former president’s campaign, which will take place at The state capitol was held. Graham has also been making calls in the state on Trump’s behalf, trying to drum up support for him, according to several people familiar with the matter. The South Carolina senator suggested he ended his relationship with Trump within hours of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has since become the former president’s regular golf partner.
The efforts have had mixed results, with several state lawmakers telling the Trump campaign they cannot or want to remain neutral until the Republican primary field is formed.
“I think before people jump out and support any candidate, they want to make sure they’re genuine. Nicky certainly has her supporters. Tim is almost universally popular, obviously South Carolinians must have heard about it [Florida Gov. Ron] desantis and [Virginia Gov.] Glenn Youngkin,” said former Trump campaign state director Merrill Lynch.
“The whole drama after President Trump has been a little cautious at times,” Merrill added.
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