With more than two years to go before the presidential elections, a contest is beginning to take shape between at least three fierce critics of Donald Trump eager to offer themselves as the anti-Trump candidate for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
His apparent willingness to run, even if Trump It does so, as expected, it represents a change from the recent past, in which the anti-Trump movement failed to recruit any figure of weight for the 2020 elections.
This time, the question is not whether Trump will find a rival within the Republican Partybut rather how many there will be and when they will launch their applications.
close to Cheney, Hogan and Kinzinger they expect at least one of them, if not more, to announce their candidacy after the midterm elections in November.
His goal may not necessarily be to win the presidency, but rather to prevent a return of Trump to the White House.
In 2020, when Trump sought re-election, his allies cleared the way, and the former president was unopposed within the Republican Partywhich even canceled primaries in some states.
Run for the Republican nomination “It is a possibility, although not necessarily as part of a great project to reach the White House”Kinzinger told the Associated Press. “You have to ask yourself if there is someone who represents the importance of defending this country, democracy and what the United States means..
“In about a year a decision will have to be made. If I am not the one who does something, surely we will all support someone who can represent us “Kinzinger added, alluding to the anti-Trump movement.
Republicans are expected to have other options in the primaries.
Several Trump loyalists who have also criticized him are contemplating a run. Among them the former Governor of New Jersey, ChrisChristie, former vice president mike pencethe governor of the Florida, Ron DeSantisand the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Hayley.
Most of them, however, have showered Trump with more praise than criticism, and figures like Cheney, Hogan and Kinzinger would be the only antagonists with a consistent anti-Trump stance.
The number of possible alternatives could be an indication that Republicans are contemplating turning the page and leaving behind the Trump era, with its divisive policies, as much as many want the tycoon to run for a third time.
About seven in 10 Republicans say Trump should run again and that he is the candidate with the best chance of winning the election, according to a CBS poll last month.
“Maybe we have to reapply”Trump said at a rally before thousands of supporters Saturday night in South Carolina, making his intentions clear.
Trump is the most popular figure among Republican voters and will try to tilt the party even more in his favor in the November elections. He was in South Carolinafor example, to support candidates who oppose two representatives who criticized him and who are seeking re-election.
People close to Cheney, Hogan and Kinzinger say that there are many people who want to consider the Trumpist stage of the Republican Party over, especially since the January 6, 2021 takeover of Congress by a Trump mob. After all, ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump, and seven senators subsequently voted to convict him.
“There is a huge section of Republicans and Americans of all persuasions who are fed up with toxic politics and want to take a new direction,” Hogan told the AP.
For now, Cheney, Hogan and Kinzinger are in frequent contact and there is no animosity between them.
The head of the Republican bloc in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, wanted Logan to run for Senate this year, but the governor dropped it. Kinzinger, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, did not run for re-election after a redistricting that hurt him; while Cheney, who also voted in favor of impeachment, will seek re-election, although it is not clear if she will be able to succeed in the August primary.
Trump wants to take the bench away from him and leave it in the hands of a supporter of his.
The daughter of the former vice president, dick chaney, is probably the anti-trumpist figure with the greatest national projection. Cheney, 55, has quite a fundraising machine for his campaign, as evidenced by the fact that he raised $7.1 million in 2021, more than most of his co-religionists.
Hogan and Kinzinger are openly supporting anti-Trump GOP candidates. Kinzinger even said last month that he will encourage Democrats and independents to vote in the Republican primary against Trump candidates.
Source: Gestion
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