Should Trump run in 2024 or should GOP nominate a new face? Loyal SC voters weigh in
Some of South Carolina’s most loyal Republican voters say they’re split whether former President Donald Trump should seek a second term in 2024 or whether it’s time for a fresh face.
“I wish, in a way, he would stay behind the scenes because I think he could get more accomplished,” said Joanne Knapp, who leads the South Carolina Federation of Republican Women in the Charleston area.
But, she added, “I think he’s the only person who can get us out of the mess that we’re in,” citing, in part, the Biden administration’s withdrawal out of Afghanistan and the administration’s push for COVID-19 vaccine requirements.
That’s where invited speakers and attendees at the state GOP’s “First in the South Republican Action Conference” over the weekend agreed.
President Joe Biden, they said, isn’t effectively handling the country’s problems.
“Four years Donald J. Trump was our president,” Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said Friday. “Boy do I miss him.”
Reince Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he was confident Trump will continue to lead the party.
“I think the odds of President Trump running for president are somewhere near 100%,” Priebus told the roughly 350-person crowd. “I think he will be the nominee of the party.”
Others were not so sure.
“I think he should definitely help, but not run, but certainly put his support in. To run he’s too toxic personality wise,” said Columbia’s Eddie Appling, who attended the conference with his wife, Rebecca. “A lot of people disagree with that and want him to run. I think there’s some young (candidates) out there that have a better chance of winning.”
Guy Needham, a precinct leader from Little River, said Trump should remain involved but take a step back from leadership.
“I’m sure that Donald Trump would have a place but I don’t know if it’s as president. I think that he may be better informed, better attuned to financials, to business, that’s his main thing,” Needham said. “I would think there’d definitely be a place where he could fall in and be a major person in a cabinet.”
In the event that Trump doesn’t run, one name mentioned as a possible nominee several times among conference attendees was another politician who calls the Sunshine State home, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“I would say that’s a consensus of many Republicans that have admiration for both men still,” said Ken Coleman, of Myrtle Beach who wants Trump to run again. “(DeSantis) is a no nonsense guy. He does what he says, he says what he means and means what he says and that’s what you need up there.”
The Applings also like DeSantis. So did Janice Likes, of Newberry County.
“I’d like to have broken (Trump’s) thumbs myself sometimes but he did put in good policies for our nation,” Likes said. “DeSantis is so popular right now because he’s really standing up for his state. I think he would be a good runner.”
SC voters weigh Haley and Scott, Trump’s 2024 standing
Former Trump official and Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, are possible GOP hopefuls themselves.
Haley told reporters earlier this year she will support Trump should he run again in 2024. Scott told reporters the same over the weekend.
“(Haley’s) sharp and she was an outstanding ambassador, she stood up for the U.S.,” said Ken Norton, from Mount Pleasant, who expressed support for Trump but was unsure whether he was electable again. “I think she could win, too.”
Greenville couple Robert and Cecilia Jackson had a slightly different suggestion.
Trump, they said, should pick Haley as his vice president, then Haley can run after Trump’s second term is over.
After the Jan. 6 riot in which thousands of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, Haley criticized Trump’s role in a Politico article. In turn, Trump has reportedly “rebuffed” outreach from Haley.
“Or Tim Scott,” Robert Jackson said. “They could maybe talk to Trump about a vice presidency. Then after Trump’s years, they can come in right behind him.”
Trafalgar Group pollster Robert Cahaly said if Trump were to run again, and politicians who have said they would stay out of the race if he got in kept to their word, Trump would win the nomination.
Cahaly said Trump’s 2024 move probably depends on what happens in 2022.
“When 2022 is over, if Trump endorsed a lot of people in primaries who went on to win their primaries — and went on to win their general elections — then I think he’ll see a green light,” Cahaly said. “If, however, he endorsed people who win their primaries and lose close general elections, then there’s a perception that another Republican might have won. I think that will affect how people perceive him. Whether he’s seen as a positive or negative and it’s something he can’t control.”
Ed McMullen, who ran Trump’s 2016 campaign in South Carolina and later served as his ambassador to Switzerland, said polling shows Trump remains popular within the Republican Party, especially in South Carolina. Trump won the Palmetto State by 14 percentage points in 2016 and almost 12 percentage points in 2020.
“The numbers nationally look fantastic for him on the Republican side, and, frankly, even in the middle, where he had some issues in the last cycle. The movement is moving pretty strong,” McMullen said. “You may not have liked watching it happen, but in the end the policies are irrefutably successful for the most part, and I think most people are seeing that today.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 2:56 PM.
