Former President Donald Trump may soon get some company on the campaign trail.
A flurry of recent moves from Trump’s potential Republican primary competitors signals that at the very least one candidate, and possibly more, are ready to hitch him within the 2024 presidential race as early as this month.
The primary to take that plunge could also be one in every of Trump’s former top officials: Nikki Haley, the ex-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday morning teased a “special announcement” set for Feb. 15 in South Carolina, where she previously served as governor.
Multiple outlets are reporting that that announcement in Charleston can be her official campaign kickoff.
“It’s definitely going to be a Great Day in South Carolina!” Haley tweeted alongside an RSVP link to the event.
In a while Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., announced through his office he’ll soon deliver remarks in South Carolina and Iowa, each of that are key states within the presidential primary cycle.
Scott’s first event, billed as a commemoration of Black History Month, is about to happen in Charleston on Feb. 16 — at some point after Haley’s announcement. His second stop, on “the importance of religion in America,” is slated for Feb. 22 in Iowa, which Republicans plan to maintain as the primary state on their primary election calendar.
Each Scott, the one Black Republican within the Senate, and Haley, who had built up some bipartisan credibility as governor and on the United Nations, have long been suspected of gearing as much as run for president. Haley gave the impression to be further along than lots of her would-be GOP rivals in recent weeks; CNBC reported last week that she had directed a few of her latest hires to be in Charleston by Wednesday.
They’re are only two potential candidates amongst a lengthy list of Republicans who’re expected to throw their hats within the ring for 2024. Others include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been tight-lipped about his presidential plans whilst he’s seen as Trump’s biggest competition, together with Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, Trump’s ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a spread of others.
Pence, Haley, Scott and other possible 2024 GOP contenders are also set to talk at an Austin, Texas, conference on Feb. 24, the Texas Tribune reported earlier Wednesday.
But thus far it has been a one-man race — and a slow one at that, with Trump doing virtually no campaigning within the two and half months since he launched his latest White House bid.
In an indication that the race is shifting into second gear, nonetheless, the previous president finally hit the trail over the weekend with a pair of stops in South Carolina and Latest Hampshire.
“I’m more indignant now and I’m more committed now than I ever was,” Trump said at a gathering of GOP leaders in Salem, Latest Hampshire. Polls show the twice-impeached former president, who lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 and is currently mired in quite a few investigations and lawsuits, stays a dominant, if diminished, figure within the Republican Party.
Along with his rivals looking more likely than ever to challenge his perch atop the GOP, Trump has taken some newer, harder swipes on social media.
Trump said over the weekend that he had spoken to Haley on the phone and encouraged her to run. But in a post on his Twitter-like site Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, he appeared to mock Haley, sharing a video of Haley saying in 2021 that she would support Trump if he ran for president again.
“Nikki has to follow her heart, not her honor,” Trump wrote within the post. “She should definitely run!”
In an earlier post, Trump lashed out at DeSantis as a “RINO GLOBALIST,” criticizing him for measures he took through the coronavirus pandemic. DeSantis has garnered praise from conservatives for pushing back on efforts to increase or strengthen certain social distancing measures during earlier stages of the pandemic.
“Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing,'” Trump wrote. “How quickly people forget!”
