Why Some Democrats Are Openly Supporting Donald Trump's 2024 Presidential Run
As the familiar refrain of the Sam & Dave song "Hold On, I'm Comin'" played on the sound system, Donald J. Trump triumphantly walked off the stage at Mar-a-Lago on the night of November 15, 2022. It was the night America had been anticipating for months: Trump announced that he will be seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. Declaring that he was running "in order to make America great and glorious again," the former president spent just over an hour reminiscing about his accomplishments and promising more of the same in a second term. To no one's surprise, he painted a picture of President Joe Biden's America as being a bleak landscape of crime-ridden cities, open borders, and staggering inflation (via Reuters).
Trump's staunchest supporters, including his namesake son Donald Trump Jr., cheered the announcement. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — who's thought to be Trump's potential 2024 running mate — gave him her wholehearted endorsement even before he made his candidacy official (via Newsmax). Surprisingly, Trump is also getting approval from a most unlikely group.
Trump's run may help Democrats win the White House
A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll showed that Donald Trump still has a very good chance of winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and that suits many Democrats just fine. According to CNN, Bernie Sanders and other prominent Dems believe that having Trump on the ballot could work to the opposition's advantage. The former president definitely has a faithful core of supporters who proudly wave their MAGA flags and will vote for him under any circumstances (per The New York Times), but the poll shows that support for Trump is still slipping. Following the 2022 midterms, the Republicans polled showed rising support for a potential competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Democrats are also hoping that conservative voters have long memories and a low tolerance for Trump's history of questionable behavior. He has yet to give up the claim that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him, and his refusal to condemn the January 6 insurrectionists could alienate more moderate Republicans. While CNN points out that Trump unexpectedly managed to beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, he may not be as fortunate in a second go-round. Shortly before Trump's announcement of his candidacy, President Joe Biden declared (per The Hill), "We ... have to demonstrate that he will not take power if he does run."
In the end, Trump may end up hurting his party's chances. Political analyst Adrienne Elrod told MSNBC's "The Sunday Show" (via Newsweek), "People are going to have Donald Trump fatigue. Especially those key independent swing voters. That will ultimately decide 2024."