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Why No One Wants to Run For President

Donald Trump speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Donald Trump speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.

Why are so few candidates for President? As noted by The Atlantic this week, at the time of the State of the Union address in 2019, several Democrats had already declared that they were running for president. With President Joe Biden giving the State of the Union on Tuesday, only one candidate of the opposite party, former President Donald Trump, has announced a presidential run in 2024. 

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“By the time a president gives the State of the Union address at the beginning of his third year in office, at least half a dozen people are typically already in the presidential race, Russell explained. But this year is different. Besides former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is expected to announce her candidacy next week, the 2024 campaign is off to an extremely slow start,” the magazine’s Isabel Fattal wrote. 

She also cited her colleague Russell Berman, who had also noticed the lack of early candidates getting into the race. 

“Until Haley put out word about her announcement last week, no one in the emerging field—which could include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others—was willing to be the first target of the barrage of insults and invective Trump would surely hurl their way,” Berman wrote. 

Not a single candidate has declared for president on the Democratic side. President Biden is expected to announce his re-election campaign sometime in the coming months. At the same time, there are not even whispers of any major Democrats launching a primary challenge to Biden. 

“The 2024 campaign has gotten off to a decidedly slow start, and the first weeks of 2023 have brought a rare reprieve from what has become known—with some derision—as the permanent campaign,” Berman wrote. “This pause is not the result of some collective cease-fire; it’s what happens when you have a former president who lost reelection but still inspires fear in his party, along with a Democratic incumbent—the oldest to ever serve—who is not exactly itching to campaign.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, former President Trump took another shot at DeSantis: By seemingly implying something untoward about the Florida governor and girls who he once taught as a private school teacher. 

On Truth Social, Trump shared a pair of tweets from others who had shared an old photo of DeSantis at a party with young women. One stated “here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher,” while the other stated, “having drinks with underaged girls and cuddling with them certainly look pretty gross and ephebophiliaesque.”

The photo refers to a New York Times article from last November, called “Pranks, Parties and Politics: Ron DeSantis’s Year as a Schoolteacher,” which looked at DeSantis’ brief stint as a teacher at a private school in Georgia. The piece stated that the young DeSantis was generally popular, if at times combative, with students during his time as a teacher. However, one Black student stated that she felt she wasn’t treated well by the future governor. 

The Times piece was widely seen at the time as a dud that failed to ding DeSantis’ presidential hopes in any appreciable way, and most of the contents have barely been mentioned in the months since, at least until Trump’s message on Tuesday. 

The story also stated that “several students recalled that Mr. DeSantis was a frequent presence at parties with the seniors who lived in town. The piece also cited a piece by a left-leaning blog called Hill Reporter, which had published the photo of DeSantis appearing to be drinking with students. DeSantis has not been accused of by anyone of any type of sexual misconduct. 

DeSantis, as has usually been the case when Trump has attacked him, did not respond to the post. 

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Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Written By

Stephen Silver is a journalist, essayist, and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

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