Donald Trump Announces Third Presidential Run As Republicans Try, Fail to Dump Him

Donald Trump, a screaming giant cheese wedge and the twice-impeached former president of the United States, has declared that he’s running for president a third time—and definitely not because this is his best shot of avoiding indictment for various crimes, like trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, fomenting the January 6 insurrection, and stealing classified documents from the White House.

In a Tuesday night speech, Trump said, “In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.”

Shortly before the speech, Trump filed his paperwork to run in 2024 with the Federal Election Committee. In his speech, Trump talked about his “success rate” in midterms endorsements and did a bit of revisionist history:

Trump has been teasing the 2024 announcement for weeks, including at events where he was supposed to be campaigning for people actually on the ballot. At a recent Pennsylvania rally, he debuted his nickname for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his top 2024 challenger: “Ron DeSanctimonious.” Then Trump picked today, Tuesday, November 15, for a “very big announcement” that would happen at Mar-A-Lago, where the FBI executed search warrants for said classified documents. It’s all happening just days after daughter Tiffany’s wedding at the estate and on the same day of Vice President Mike Pence’s book release.

Still, more and more Republican voters are beginning to prefer DeSantis to Trump. And Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative news outlets have turned on Trump: The Wall Street Journal and New York Post have sharply criticized the former president after the midterms, in which many Trump-backed candidates lost to Democrats. Trump claims none of this is his fault, because he wasn’t the one running.

Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Wednesday that Trump should put his 2024 declaration on “pause” until after the December 6 Georgia runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Republican nominee Herschel Walker. McEnany said DeSantis, not Trump, should publicly campaign for Walker, given the Florida governor’s nearly 20-point reelection margin last week.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) was more explicit on Sunday night, calling the party “dead.”

Nevertheless, Trump persists. On Monday, he shared the following on Truth Social, the social media network he started after Twitter banned him for his role in the Capitol riot: “Hopefully, tomorrow will turn out to be one of the most important days in the history of our Country!”

On Tuesday, Trump’s #1 ass-kisser Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said he couldn’t make it to the presidential announcement rally and blamed it on “the weather” (which appeared to be just fine). Gaetz is the same person who reportedly asked Trump to preemptively pardon him for his alleged sex crimes and just days ago called the man “Big Daddy Don.” Not a great sign for Trump that Gaetz backed out.

At least one lawmaker is sticking by Trump: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) endorsed him for 2024, though maybe only because she wants to be his running mate. (It’s unclear if she was in attendance on Tuesday night.)

Stefanik won a nomination vote on Monday to serve again as conference chair, but other leadership contests will be messy. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) won a nomination vote to be House Speaker by 188-31, but he’ll need 218 votes in January to officially take the title. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is now facing a leadership challenge from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) as the party starts a civil war over who’s to blame for its midterms losses.

Trump could put pressure on McCarthy to endorse him for 2024 in exchange for Trump getting Republican House members to vote for McCarthy in the speaker’s race. However the chips may fall, this whole thing is looking ugly for the GOP.