Presidential Election 2024: US Gears Up for Midterm Elections with Strong Personalities Within Republican Party

Since former President Donald Trump proclaimed the 2020 election result "stolen," political analysts have predicted that he will compete for the presidency again. Florida governor Ron DeSantis, dubbed "Trump 2.0," has been mentioned as a possible 60th president, as have Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pompeo, all of whom served in Trump's cabinet.

Polls now show Trump far ahead of his prospective rivals, but with more than two years until the next general election, the campaign for the Republican nomination remains wide open, according to The Week via MSN.

Will Trump Run in 2024?

Republicans are facing significant dangers when the Jan. 6 select committee reveals more facts about Trump's behavior during the Capitol attack, including sitting silently for hours as he watched the bloodshed unfold with his vice president and GOP senators in the building.

Many feel that a Trump presidential declaration before November will hamper their party's chances to recapture the House majority and maybe retake the Senate.

According to two House Republicans who asked anonymity to discuss internal dynamics, Trump friends have tried to persuade him not to announce before the elections, believing he would distract and dissuade voters by making the contest about himself rather than a referendum on the Biden administration. And Republican leaders have made it clear that Trump's focus on himself during the next three months will not go over well in Congress, Politico reported.

Republican Party's Possible Presidential Candidates in 2024 Election

Over the past year, the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus on Capitol Hill, has hosted a number of these 2024 candidates, including Pompeo, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and provided them with a platform to share their vision and build congressional alliances. The group has also met with Trump many times.

Most recently, the board meets with former Vice President Mike Pence, who has hinted in numerous high-profile steps this week that he is seriously considering a presidential run in 2024 and seeking to create a footing in Trump's Trump-fatigued Republican Party.

Throughout a closed-door meeting with the RSC on Wednesday, some members complimented Pence for his efforts on January 6 - when he supervised the certification of the 2020 election results - while others pushed him to run for president in 2024, according to participants.

Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana, a Republican, said he hopes his brother chooses to run for president and will back him 100% if he does. When asked if Pence sounded like someone had their sights set on the White House, Johnson replied, "I think it's a very reasonable assumption that they have at least some desire."

Banks has already stated that if Trump does not run in the next election cycle, he will back a prospective Pence 2024 candidacy. However, Banks, who has emerged as one of Trump's staunchest backers on Capitol Hill and may be hesitant of seeming too supportive of one of Trump's possible 2024 challengers, predicted on Wednesday that if Trump decides to run, he will clear the field and go on to win the White House.

Others, on the other hand, may have a more difficult time picking sides in a crowded primary. Florida Republican Rep. Brian Mast told CNN that if Trump declared a presidential candidacy right now, he would support him. He also said the same thing about DeSantis. Some Republicans avoided queries about 2024, claiming they were focused on the approaching midterm elections, as per CNN.

Meanwhile, talk is rife over whether Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, a snappy populist frequently heralded as a more controlled Trump, may run for president this year.

Before joining politics, the right-wing 43-year-old represented Florida's sixth congressional district in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018. He served in the US Navy and graduated from Harvard Law School.

Nikki Haley, Trump's former governor of South Carolina and US ambassador to the United Nations, can't determine who she wants to be - the leader of a post-Trump GOP or a 'friend' to the president who sought to subvert democracy," Politico said. One thing is certain: she will run for president in 2024."

In an interview published on July 16 by The Times, the 58-year-old, who served as Secretary of State from 2018 to 2021 under Donald Trump's administration, said he was ready to run against his former boss in 2024.