The more GOP rivals, the better for him

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NEW YORK (AP) When Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina campaigned for the White House last week, notoriously prickly former President Donald Trump welcomed his new challenger.

There were no accusations of disloyalty or bad name-calling from the GOP front-runner like the barrage he unleashed when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, considered his top rival, joined the race two days later with a cryptic announcement on Twitter.

Good luck to Senator Tim Scott entering the Republican Presidential Primary Race, Trump said. It loaded a lot of people quickly, and Tim was a big step up from Ron DeSanctimonious, who was completely unelectable.”

The contrast underscores not only the fact that Trump sees DeSantis as his most formidable rival, but also basic math: He and his team have long believed that more candidates would enter the Republican primary contest, better for Trump. They operate under the assumption that no other candidate can consolidate enough of the anti-Trump vote to unseat him. Other candidates entering the race, they argue, are competing for DeSantis’ share of the vote.

And the field grows in the sun.

In the coming weeks, at least four additional candidates are expected to launch their own campaigns, joining a field that already includes DeSantis, Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, tech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and some longer shots. like conservative talk radio host Larry Elder.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christies entry into the race is imminent, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his plans. Former Vice President Mike Pence is expected to launch his campaign next month, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is looking at June 7 as the launch date. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told The Associated Press last week that he was strongly considering a run, as did New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

Even the former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has run for president twice, recently told CNN that he is not giving up on a third campaign. And Axios reports that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who previously said his focus was on state elections, is reconsidering his plans after earlier dismissing speculation.

It’s an indictment of DeSantis’ disastrous announcement and his dismal poll numbers,” said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung of the upcoming announcement. “DeSantis’ blood is in the water and every candidate can see how weak and weak he is. .

In fact, some declared and would-be candidates are stepping up their attacks against DeSantis as they compete for second place.

Republicans have once warned of a repeat of 2016, when the broad field of the GOP failed to coalesce around an alternative Trump, giving him the nomination. But much of the urgency that once existed among Trumps GOP rivals to limit the field has dissipated in recent months.

The important point isn’t how many candidates start the race, it’s how many stay after they lose the nomination, said Whit Ayres, a veteran Republican pollster and strategist. We learned that from the Democratic nomination in 2020. Many candidates have started the race. But when it became clear that Joe Biden was going to win the nomination, within hours the rest of them all dropped out and endorsed him.

It’s too early, Ayers said, to know who will be the strongest non-Trump candidate.

The idea that you decide before the race starts which one is going to rally behind is very premature,” he said. There are so many shoes that can drop.

Among them are the ongoing investigation into Trump, including the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents and state and federal investigations into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump has already been indicted in New York and additional criminal charges would create an unprecedented situation with unknown consequences.

New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, a fierce Trump critic, earlier this year warned of dire consequences if the GOP primary field grew too large. This week, however, Levine played down the importance of the growing number of candidates, noting that many of Trump’s rivals are only polling in the low single digits.

The only serious candidates beyond Trump, Levine said, are DeSantis, Haley, Scott, Pence (if he runs) and maybe Sununu and Youngkin, if they get in.

Still, Levine said: I’d prefer fewer people, no question.”

Meanwhile, Trump is trying to project a sense of inevitability and dominance in the field. He told reporters at a golf tournament Thursday that he wasn’t sure there was any point in debating given his current poll numbers.

Unless he approaches, why would anyone debate? he said of DeSantis.

He also urged the party to rally behind him. Democrats, he said, are hoping for a long, slow Republican primary.”

That is why the Republican Party must unite behind the standard-bearer of the MAGA movement,” he said in a video message, referring to his Make America Great Again slogan.

Many Republicans seem to believe the party will eventually rally around Trump’s strongest challengers, with other candidates dropping out when they realize they can’t win. But it remains unclear how exactly that will play out, given the political aspirations of those involved. If DeSantis maintains his second-place status, some worry that his frosty relationship with other candidates will make it less likely that the party will unite behind him.

In the meantime, candidates like Haley are ramping up their attacks against DeSantis, while others are preparing to enter the race. They include Suarez, who will be the only Hispanic candidate in the 2024 field.

The 45-year-old Republican is not known nationally but has begun meeting with voters in key swing states like South Carolina and is believed to be sitting on millions of dollars in the bank.

Suarez avoided any criticism of Trump in a recent interview, saying only that the former president is without a doubt in pole position.

But he was more willing to highlight what he called DeSantis structural liabilities, pointing to Florida’s governors struggling to build relationships with many Republican officials in the state, including him. He also noted DeSantis’ recent conservative legislative accomplishments and his fight with Disney.

There are things that, at least from what I’ve heard from the donor class, is something that has made them second-guess their support for him, he said.

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