Mitt Romney has predicted that Donald Trump would win the GOP nomination if he ran for
president again in 2024.
At a virtual event hosted by The New York Times in February 2021, Romney had this to
say:
"I don't know if he will run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I'm pretty sure he'll win
the nomination."
Romney made headlines recently by becoming the only Republican who voted to convict Trump
in both of his impeachment trials.
Naturally, then, the senator also clarified that he would not be voting for President
Trump again if he did run.
"I would not be voting for President Trump again.
I have not voted for him in the past."
During his virtual interview with The Times, Mitt Romney also touched on the concept of
populism.
"And so there's a populist movement on the right in our country and the left, and those
movements I don't believe will be going away anytime soon."
Romney followed up by explicitly stating his position on the matter of a potential Trump
candidacy:
"I would probably be getting behind somebody who more represented the tiny wing of the
Republican Party that I represent."
It's worth pointing out that, for the moment, Donald Trump has yet to announce any plans
to run for office in 2024.
In a February 2021 interview with Newsmax, the former president insisted that it was
too early to say anything on the matter, but, perhaps inevitably, reiterated that he has
had a tremendous amount of support — and is feeling encouraged by his poll numbers.
Trump said:
"I'm the only guy who gets impeached and my numbers go up."
In a poll conducted by USA Today, 85% of Trump voters surveyed said that they would support
him in a general election.
Per the outlet, 46% of respondents stated that they would leave the Republican party
and follow Trump if he created his own political party, which has led some to echo Romney's
fear that the Republican Party is about to experience a significant split.
Although Trump won't give a definite answer about the possibility of running for a second
term in 2024, the numbers seem to suggest he could very well grab the Republican nomination
for the next election.
Another poll — this one from Morning Consult and Politico — showed that 54% of Republicans
said they would support Trump in a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary election.
Trump wouldn't even be the only president to get reelected in nonconsecutive elections:
Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States.
Even more worrying for Trump's political enemies, political expert Dr. Reneé Carr suggested
in a November 2020 interview with The List that Trump could very well win not just the
Republican nomination, but the whole 2024 election.
She explained:
"Trump will continue to stoke the emotions and energy of his loyal voter base through
claims of election fraud.
By his continued accusations of the election being 'stolen' from him, this prevents psychological
closure of the election for both himself and those who voted for him."
This rhetoric could prolong a feeling of injustice among Trump's supporters, which according
to Carr, may serve to "intensify his voters' loyalty."
However, Carr stated that, if President Joe Biden maintains support from his voters and
follows through on his promises, he could very well minimize Trump's possibility of
reelection.
Notably, however, Donald Trump submitted himself for the 2020 presidential election on the
same day that he celebrated his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States.
President Joe Biden, however, has yet to submit that paperwork.
According to Politico, Biden's team wants the president to focus on the coronavirus
pandemic and reinvigorating the economy before committing to the next election.
However, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, has said Biden will definitely run again.
Coons revealed:
"He [Biden] knows that we are at the middle of an absolute turning point, a pivot point
in American history.
And he's up for the challenge."
But there have been mixed reports regarding Biden's potential presidential run in 2024.
In December 2019, Politico interviewed four insiders close to Biden, and they all agreed
it would be pretty much inconceivable that he will run for reelection in 2024.
In August 2020, however, Biden himself pushed back against this, telling ABC News that he
would absolutely be open to running in 2024.
For now, Trump and Biden both have plenty of time to make up their minds about the 2024
election, so it seems unlikely they will reveal their plans anytime soon.
Either way, though, there's pretty much no question about how Senator Romney feels about
the whole situation.
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