What if Trump Tries Again in 2024?
It is still a good way out for Donald Trump’s ego and his supporters’ aspirations: to launch his presidential candidacy again in 2024
By Alejandro Armengol (Cubaencuentro)
HAVANA TIMES – If the presidential election was a referendum on Trump, his decision to try again in 2024 would be the best news Democrats could get. At least from this November’s perspective full of uncertainty, frustration and hope.
It is still a good way out for Donald Trump’s ego and his supporters’ aspirations: to launch his presidential candidacy again in 2024. Destroyed, but not defeated – the idea of a rebirth must be lingering. Without knowing a word from ancient mythology, the behavior of the Phoenix is not alien to him. Time and again his businesses have fallen and risen again. More than a successful business career, his exemplarity is that of a survivor.
Beware of him, he is never fully defeated. If he is now rehearsing a seemingly endless tantrum, it is to prepare his future. That in addition to the political gain in prolonging the defeat. He is not disenchanted, but just cultivating an apparent rebellion, not to be forgotten.
It is necessary to clarify that what has been written so far is not an exercise in boredom or an exorcism in the face of the annoyance of not seeing a return to normality nearby.
It is possible…
First, the possibility of running again. In this country, you cannot be president more than twice, but nothing indicates that they have to be consecutive. In fact, it has already happened.
Democrat Grover Cleveland was President from 1885 to 1889 and then from 1893–1897 (22nd and 24th president).
Second, the publication of that possibility. Trump has been privately discussing with his advisers running in 2024. According to what Senator Lindsey Graham said last Monday, during an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump should run again in 2024 if he loses the legal battle to win re-election this year.
Rick Gaetz, a 2016 Trump campaign adviser, said the current president “will continue to play a significant role within the Republican Party.” He added that Trump would likely “seriously consider another run in 2024.”
Of course, all this can be another sample of wishful thinking in the face of defeat. However, it is delusional to think Trump will disappear from the USA political landscape when he leaves the presidency. And given his personality – and the 70 million who voted for him – neither believe that he will dedicate himself to the common role of those who preceded him.
To try to return to power, Trump will need more than Twitter and social media. A television network needs to replace the role of Fox News, which in the end proved to be a true news hub, regardless of commentators and hosts.
Someone will have to show him the old Lenin principle Fidel Castro put into practice with sagacity and determination. It remains valid that in order to make a revolution – and that, in short, has been Trump’s attempt in his own way – a press organ is necessary. But for this many millions are needed, and he either doesn’t have them or he’s not going to risk them.
In the meantime he’ll have legal battles to fight
There are two factors that will make such an endeavor difficult. One is that Manhattan court that’s going to have him a little busy and worried when he leaves Washington D.C. The other one is that this country is relentless with losers. And no matter how hard he tries to prove otherwise, in the end he lost.
There are younger figures within the Republican Party, who will seek to star in Trumpism without Trump. At the moment, the best example is Senator Ted Cruz. His defense of the supposed Republican presidential victory these days has little to do with a president he possibly detests. And a lot with his interest in taking possession as a spurious heir.
And will this benefit the Democrats? The ghost of Trump’s return would serve to unite a party showing, from the first days of a new term, the signs of division, discord and diverse interests. The common rejection of the Republican brought them together. In any case, if it happens, it will be especially entertaining to watch.