Trump or Bust

Former President Donald Trump greets supporters before a rally at the Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, on Nov. 7, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Commentary

Former President Donald Trump has stated that he will be making a special address on Nov. 15 at his Florida Mar-a-Lago home. Many speculate that he intends to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. How likely are the chances that this is true, and what would be the implications of such an announcement?

Judging from some of the several rallies that he has held in the past couple of weeks and the timing of the “special address” on the heels of the midterm elections, it seems very likely that Trump will indeed declare that he is running for president.

However, the more important question is, what are the implications of such an announcement?

Some think it’s a bad idea, saying that Trump should wait until after the Georgia Senate runoff election due to take place on Dec. 6. Others are against the idea of Trump running in general. They think he should step aside and make way for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who handily won reelection on Nov. 8. They say that DeSantis is the rising star of the conservative movement, and Trump has become a drag on the Republican Party. They even attribute the latter’s underperformance in the midterm elections directly to Trump.

They are wrong.

DeSantis is a great politician, but as far as 2024 is concerned, Trump is still the man to seize power back from the virulent hold that the American left currently has over the U.S. institutions of power.

Anyone who has ever been to a Trump rally knows the unparalleled electricity that the 45^th president generates. The most recent one on Nov. 7 in Dayton, Ohio, was no less exciting, with Trump putting on his usual two-hour display of enervating the crowd to recognize the danger that the United States is currently under, and encouraging them to take action at the polls and their communities.

Let’s take a look at the actual claim that the midterm’s red wave-turned-red puddle is somehow attributable to Trump.

Among Trump-endorsed candidates, 219 out of 235 won—a 93 percent win rate. Those who say DeSantis is the new kingmaker of the conservative movement will have to first explain that. They will also have to take note of the obvious fact that DeSantis is a Trump-endorsed candidate himself.

Trump is the one who laid the foundation upon which DeSantis is currently building his career. Remember all the election ads back in 2018 when DeSantis was still just a congressman running his first time for governor? Some examples include his toddler daughter “building the wall,” as well as DeSantis reading to his baby son from Trump’s book “The Art of The Deal.” DeSantis became a nationally known figure only by standing on the shoulders of Trump. Take a look for yourself.

Again, this isn’t an attack on DeSantis. He has done great as governor of Florida, and the next four years will hopefully be even better. But right now, Trump is the savior that the nation needs to rescue it from the firm grip of the American left. A look at how significantly he outperforms DeSantis in opinion polling is enough to let you know that he’s the only one who can rally the type of support needed to oust the incumbent currently in the Oval Office.

That doesn’t mean DeSantis should be cast aside. Trump needs allies, especially state governors. Right now, the only way that Republicans can win is if they absolutely focus all of their energy on aligning behind Trump and ensuring election integrity. The two go together. Florida’s elections were some of the most secure in the country, ensuring free and fair voting that swept Republicans to power across the state. Now compare that to Arizona, where corruption is rampant and ballots are still being counted.

Paid election workers sort ballots at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Ariz., after the polls closed on Nov. 8, 2022. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

Those who say that Trump hurt Republicans by making up the nickname Ron “Desanctimonious” during a speech are wrong again. Look at the places where elections were fairly held—like Florida—and it should be obvious that the throwaway line during a nearly two-hour speech had no effect (not to mention that most leave out the fact that Trump followed it up by telling Floridians to make sure to vote for DeSantis for governor). What’s more, Trump’s ability as a fighter energizes Republicans and gets them to show up. It’s the exact way he won the 2016 primary and then the general election—by fighting.

It should also raise your eyebrows that practically every conservative commentator saying that we should now support DeSantis instead of Trump was a NeverTrumper in 2016. Additionally, left-wing outlets are all picking up on the same narrative and gleefully gloating about the prospect that someone is going to challenge Trump. For example, here are CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Medium, and USA Today.

You should ask yourself: Why would all of these left-wing outlets, who absolutely hate every Republican, be giddily cheering on the notion that DeSantis is now the man? Is it perhaps because they are trying to weaken the American right? You better believe it’s not because they want DeSantis to become the next president.

Combatting voter fraud and left-wing misinformation should be our primary concern instead of worrying about Trump making up a silly nickname for DeSantis before giving him his support in practically the same sentence.

Trump needs DeSantis as a friend, not a competitor. All that will happen if DeSantis challenges Trump in the primary is he will handily be beaten, wasting enormous amounts of money, and then risks having his entire political career upended. Remember what happened to former governors Jeb Bush and Scott Walker after the 2016 primary? They disappeared entirely from the political scene and have no place in today’s Republican Party.

DeSantis is only 44 years old. There’s plenty of time for him to step into the limelight as a successor to Trump. Trump would likely be happy to assist him in that process once he is done with the political scene. But right now, only one man commands the loyalty and support to save the American Republic.

That man is Donald Trump.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.