Former President Donald Trump has hinted at a rally that his decision to announce another run for the White House can wait until after this year’s crucial midterm elections.
Trump suggested in comments in Arizona on Friday that he would launch another bid for the Oval Office but that a formal announcement wouldn’t happen until the elections in November.
The former president has repeatedly teased another presidential campaign but has not made it official, fueling speculation that other candidates will jump into the race for the Republican nomination in 2024.
Republicans are favored to win the House of Representatives in November, according to analysis from poll tracker FiveThirtyEight, while the Senate remains a toss-up.
“I ran twice, I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than we got in 2016,” Trump said in Prescott Valley, Arizona on Friday. “And likewise, getting more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far.”
Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden but he has continued to claim the election was stolen from him through mass voter fraud and other irregularities.
“And now, we may have to do it again,” Trump went on. “I mean, look at—look at what has happened to our country and less than two years. Our country is like a different—it’s like a different place. It’s so sad to see.”
Trump went on: “But first, we have to win a historic victory for the Republican Party this November when we retake Congress among our highest priorities must be to end the nightmare Joe Biden has created on our southern border.”
Newsweek has asked Trump’s office for comment.
The former president was supporting Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake at the rally.
If Republicans take either chamber of Congress in November, they will effectively be able to stymie President Biden’s agenda for the two years leading up to the 2024 election.
A new House Republican majority is also likely to open a series of investigations into the Biden administration on matters including the withdrawal from Afghanistan and Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
If Trump were to announce a new presidential bid before the midterms, his decision would likely become a major campaign issue and a rallying point for Democrats.
Polls have frequently shown Trump is the favorite option for the 2024 nomination among Republicans, although the House of Representatives’ Select Committee investigating January 6, 2021 may have dented his support.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Thursday showed that 32 percent of Republicans “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed with the statement that Trump “should NOT run for president again in 2024.”
Former President Mike Pence was also in Arizona on Friday supporting rival gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson. There is continuing speculation that Pence will launch his own bid for the 2024 GOP nomination, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also seen as a strong contender.
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