Trump aides scrambled to stop him from announcing his presidential candidacy on the eve of the midterms and upending the election, report says
- Trump wanted to announce a 2024 bid on Monday, right before midterm voting, per The Washington Post.
- Aides successfully persuaded him not to, fearing it'd upend the election, its report said.
Aides to former President Donald Trump persuaded him not to announce his 2024 presidential campaign on Monday, fearing it could upend the midterm elections, The Washington Post reported.
According to three sources who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, Trump had touted the idea of formally announcing his bid for the 2024 presidency at a rally for GOP Senate candidate JD Vance in Ohio on Monday night.
The suggestion prompted a scramble by top Republicans and Trump some aides to stop any announcement, two of the sources told the publication. Other aides, it reported, wanted Trump to go ahead.
Top Republicans have long been concerned that if Trump announced before the midterm election, it could distract from their attempts to make the election a referendum on President Joe Biden's performance, and issues including inflation and education.
In the end, Trump held off making the announcement, and instead dropped another massive hint he'd be running, saying at the rally that he'd make "a very big announcement" on November 15 at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
(Axios last week reported that Nov. 14 would be the date when Trump would likely announce his candidacy.)
"We want nothing to detract from the importance of tomorrow," Trump said at the rally.
Trump for months has been gearing up for another bid for the presidency, backing a slew ardent loyalists in the midterms who have pushed his baseless claims that victory was stolen from him in 2020.
He has dropped a series of increasingly strong hints in recent public appearances that a formal announcement is imminent.
Republicans are predicted to make significant gains in the midterms, with the data website FiveThirtyEight heavily favoring the party to retake the House, and slightly favoring them to retake the Senate.