According to The New York Times, President Donald Trump is planning to quickly announce a 2024 presidential run if and when the election results are certified for Joe Biden.
“As a next step, Mr. Trump is talking seriously about announcing that he is planning to run again in 2024, aware that whether he actually does it or not, it will freeze an already-crowded field of possible Republican candidates,” reported Maggie Haberman on Friday. “And, Republicans say, it will keep the wide support he showed even in defeat and could guarantee a lucrative book deal or speaking fees.”
Whenever you read something in a publication like the New York Times, you have to work hard to separate the actual reporting from the opinion of the reporter. So here, for instance, you have to just pluck the news of Trump’s 2024 campaign away from the other garbage, such as what Trump is “aware” of and what “Republicans say” about this tidbit of information. This is just speculation on Haberman’s part, and it’s what makes the Times such a lousy, left-wing paper.
Our irritation with the Gray Lady aside, this news has also been independently reported by Axios and the Washington Post, making us think there is probably something to it.
Axios reported: “President Trump has already told advisers he’s thinking about running for president again in 2024, two sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios. Aides advising Republicans who are likely to run in 2024 are dreading the prospect of a Trump run given the extraordinary sway he holds over millions of GOP voters. Even four years after leaving office, he could remain formidable in a Republican primary.”
The Washington Post: “Rather than talking about a second term, Trump has been matter-of-factly discussing a possible 2024 campaign — an indication that he knows his time as president is coming to an end, at least for now. ‘I’m just going to run in 2024. I’m just going to run again,’ Trump has been saying, according to a senior administration official who has spoken with him this week.”
Again, with the Post, you have to carefully separate the news from the opinion.
In any event, there you have it: The first tentative rumors of a Trump comeback from the man who wrote the book on “The Art of the Comeback.” Will it happen? Well, four years is a long time, and Trump will be 78 in 2024, so there are no guarantees. But with Biden almost certainly being a one-term president and with Trump retaining enormous popularity with voters, it’s not the craziest thing we’ve ever heard.
Maybe we’ll get our “four more years” after all. They’ll just be delayed a bit.
