These Three Republicans (Probably) Won’t Primary Trump In 2024: With a third presidential run on the cards for former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential hopefuls who had set their sights on 2024 now have a decision to make; whether or not to challenge the likely Republican presidential nominee.
Major risk and possible rewards await anybody who challenges the former president in 2024. Beyond the obvious risk of angering Trump’s base and losing credibility within the party as a result, candidates may also leverage a well-fought campaign into a position in Trump’s cabinet should he beat the Democrats’ eventual 2024 pick in three years.
Speaking to CNN, an anonymous aide of a prospective Republican candidate who has not publicly announced their presidential run said that, save a dramatic shift in the base, “the nomination is Donald Trump’s and it would be a suicide mission to run against him.”
For many GOP presidential hopefuls, the risk is too great to go head-to-head with the Trump machine in 2024. Here are four who have already said as much.
Senator Marco Rubio
Though Senator Marco Rubio and former President Donald Trump don’t see eye to eye on everything, the Florida Senator knows that running against him in 2024 is a big risk.
“If Donald Trump is going to run for president in 2024, he’ll be the Republican nominee. Of course, I would support him in that,” Rubio told WPTV in December.
Rubio also publicly disagreed with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who recently sided against former President Donald Trump by claiming that the January 6 riot in Washington, D.C., was a “violent insurrection.”
Speaking to NewsNation, Rubio said that the riots did not constitute an insurrection.
“There was no way they were going to overthrow the government,” Rubio said. “It was a riot. It was a dangerous riot. It was a violent one. It should have never happened and it should never happen again. But I also do not think people should be misled to think this somehow was on the verge of overthrowing the government.”
Rubio, at least for now, appears to be behind former President Donald Trump and a potential third run for the White house.
Senator Josh Hawley
Some say that populist Missouri Senator Josh Hawley is “laying groundwork” for a 2024 presidential run, but the staunch Trump supporter already ruled it out in January last year.
“I’ve always said, Maria, that I’m not running for president,” Hawley told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News Primetime. “It’s a privilege to represent the state of Missouri in the United States Senate. I just got elected barely two years ago. There’s a lot of work to do, and I look forward to continuing to fight for Missouri every day that I can.”
Hawley, the first senator to announce that he would object to the Electoral College certification on January 6 citing evidence of election fraud and misconduct, may run in the future but has not made any moves to run against Trump in 2024.
Governor Kristi Noem
From banning biological males from playing in women’s and girls’ sports in her state to stopping the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has done a good job of positioning herself as a Republican for the times. Her interest in running for the Republican presidential nomination is no secret, and in July last year, Noem introduced herself to Iowa voters when she spoke at the Family Leadership Summit.
Her rumored run, however, will likely be delayed. Speaking at the Iowa summit, Noem said that she is “counting on” Trump running in 2024.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and report on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.