The pool of candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination might begin to swell up over the next month, meaning that former President Donald Trump will have to fight for his party’s nomination after all in order to face off against Joe Biden in the general election.
While many names including former Ambassador Nikki Haley, Secretary Mike Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence, and current Governors Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin have been tossed into the potential field of Republicans, insiders are now adding South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy into the mix as well.
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Tim Scott’s Time to Shine?
According to congressional Reporter Eliza Collins from the Wall Street Journal, Senator Scott is “taking steps to run for president.”
Scott made the rounds nationally during the 2022 midterm elections where he made a series of endorsements and campaign appearances with Republicans. While not an uncommon thing for a popular senator or politician to do, it only adds fuel to the fire of speculation since now he will also be traveling to Iowa, which is the first voting state for the Republican primaries, in late February.
According to Forbes, Scott “has made key hires for a super PAC in support of his political ambitions, Axios reported last week, and is set to hold a listening tour starting this week in celebration Black History Month in which he will promote a message of ‘hope and opportunity.'”
Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota has publicly expressed his support for a potential Scott presidential campaign.
“Having Tim get into the race would be very well-received by a number of members of the Senate, me included,” Sen. Rounds said in an interview with The Hill. “He’s sharp. He’s got a business background. He’s got a great personal story.”
“There’s a number of us that have basically been encouraging him to at least consider that type of run,” he continued. “This is good news, we think, that he’s at least exploring the possibility.”
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Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?
Vivek Ramaswamy is a bestselling author (“Woke Inc.” and “Nation of Victims”) and entrepreneur who has founded multiple companies in the healthcare sector. The 37-year-old businessman is a first generation American, with his parents having migrated from India to Ohio where Ramaswamy was born and raised.
According to Daniel Lippman from Politico, Ramaswamy is currently eyeing a presidential run which seems to be gaining some traction towards an official announcement after he made a visit to Iowa for a speaking appearance last week.
“He [Ramaswamy] is exploring a run for president,” wrote Lippman, “testing, among other things, whether his warnings about the dangers of ‘wokeism’ and socially-responsible investing — in business vernacular what’s called environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing — has political currency with Republican politicians, business leaders and, yes, farmers.”
Lippman continues that Ramaswamy want to “pull off what Donald Trump did in 2016: enter the race with an entrepreneurial spirt, unorthodox ideas, and few expectations, and end up developing a major following that will carry him.”
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Everyone vs Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump, the only official 2024 GOP candidate thus far, has held a steady lead as the public leader of the GOP since leaving office in 2021, and despite the contested election results and looming presence of the January 6 Capitol riot, has maintained the position of favored candidate among Republicans to face President Joe Biden in 2024.
However, while other candidates may attempt to fight for their shot at the nomination, most polling indicates this fight could ultimately come down to Trump and DeSantis, should DeSantis officially enter the race.
According to the latest Monmouth University Poll published on February 9, “While Trump has gained some ground over the past two months, he trails DeSantis in a head-to-head contest. At the same time, either candidate is preferred to other popular Republican officeholders, suggesting that the race is a two-person contest in most GOP voters’ minds right now.”
Other potential candidates outside of Trump (33%) and DeSantis (33%) who received mentions by poll participates included Mike Pence (2%), Nikkie Haley (1%), Ted Cruz (1%), Rand Paul (1%), and Mike Pompeo (1%).
“Trump and DeSantis are grabbing most of the media attention,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “So it is not surprising that most Republican voters do not come up with any names other than these two.”
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