Can the GOP find a replacement for Trump if he is out of picture?
Former US President Donald Trump has practically broken the GOP in half by refusing to accept defeat in the 2020 presidential election and inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol, putting the Republican Party between a rock and a hard place.
Some Republicans are remaining loyal to the former president while others are weighing in on how to move past Trump in the party’s uncertain future.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is among the figures being flaunted as a potential candidate to replace Trump in the next round of presidential election in 2024.
“The truth is that the Biden folks know that if Donald Trump is not the candidate in 2024, the leader of our movement will be Ron DeSantis,” said Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz in an interview with Fox News.
The idea has gained momentum in the wake of reports of the Biden administration’s travel restrictions around Florida due to the state's coronavirus cases.
"He is a strong potential presidential candidate in 2024, the Biden team knows that, and so they're trying to somehow cast aspersions on the Florida experience because you know what, throughout America, there's a lot of Florida envy right now,” said the congressman.
Trump, meanwhile, remains the top 2024 choice with GOP voters even though he is the only president in US history to have been impeached twice.
According to a Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted in the days after the acquittal of Trump on Saturday, 59 percent of GOP voters want Trump to play a major role in the party’s future.
“There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility. His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world’s largest megaphone,” Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell wrote in an op-ed on the Wall Street Journal.
Trump could not only run in 2024 but also help Republican candidates win back majority in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in 2022.
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