US election campaign: Trump challengers come out of cover

Donald Trump had imagined the start of his renewed US presidential candidacy differently. First his candidates failed in the midterms. And now the intra-party competition is growing stronger than Turmp himself probably expected.

“There has only been one President who has ever challenged the entire Washington establishment!” With these words, Donald Trump recommended himself for the renewed candidacy last weekend at the start of his election campaign in South Carolina.

In 2016, as an outsider and newcomer, he beat 16 competitors out of the field in the primaries. It probably won’t be that many this time. But the first challenger came out of cover this week: Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the UN and former governor of South Dakota.

“I have the confidence to lead the party in the election campaign,” said Haley, “after all, I’ve never lost an election!”

Unlike most Republicans, Haley stuck to criticism of Trump

It’s a nod to Trump’s election defeat by Biden. He immediately reminded him this week that Nikki Haley had actually promised never to compete with Trump in an election. But that was before the Capitol was stormed.

Immediately afterwards, Haley Trump resigned his allegiance and publicly criticized him sharply. Which she never took back or put into perspective, unlike other party grandees like Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina. His distancing from Trump did not last long after January 6, 2021. And just this week, Graham shot down Trump’s potential inner-party competition: “To all these talented people: I don’t think you could do what he did!”

DeSantis is likely to scare Trump the most

Graham named Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by name. Pompeo has only recently published a memoir of his time under Trump, but for the time being he is shirking a clear definition of the presidential candidacy. “With my wife Susan, I will be reflecting and praying to come to a decision. It will be within the next few months.”

The other named, DeSantis, has also not yet declared himself. But he probably scares Trump the most. Because Trump is constantly polemicizing against DeSantis, giving him the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious”, the “hypocritical Ron” and repeatedly accusing him of disloyalty. “I hear De Santis could compete: I consider that very disloyal!”

Polls are currently looking bad for Trump

What Trump also hears are the polls. In New Hampshire, Republican respondents now voted 42-30 for DeSantis. Ironically, in symbolic New Hampshire, where the first primaries traditionally take place.

From the ranks of governors, Glenn Youngkin from Virginia and Kristi Noem from South Dakota are also considered potential presidential candidates. And then there’s Mike Pence, Trump’s former deputy, who broke with his boss after the Capitol storm. “How close are you to a final decision?” Pence is asked by a reporter. “I believe we still have time,” replies Pence, “we will continue to pray and keep you posted!”

Pence will soon also pray together with an important group of voters. Together with his wife, he will visit evangelical mega-churches in a targeted and systematic manner in the coming weeks. Exactly the milieu without which Trump would not have achieved his surprise victory in 2016. America’s evangelicals also got their Trump fat off this week: They too are “disloyal” if they support a candidate other than him in 2024.