It took a little while, but the GOP 2024 presidential field has suddenly and dramatically expanded.
In a matter of days, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially joined the 2024 Republican presidential field, ending months of hints and speculation.
Virginia Gov, Glenn Youngkin, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and others could soon launch campaigns as well.
On May 26, NBC and other sources reported that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is readying a bid for 2024, citing comments from an unnamed aide. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that reporting to The Epoch Times.
Former President Donald Trump remains the clear front-runner, ahead of DeSantis in the polls. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman Perry Johnson, and others have also entered the race.
Unsurprisingly, Trump and DeSantis backers see the situation differently. Yet, in conversations with activists and with major scholars of history and politics, it became apparent that the growing field likely works to the former president’s advantage: A race that could have been defined as “Trump vs. DeSantis” is growing more chaotic by the day, preventing Trump’s opposition from forming a single bulwark against him.
Trump, DeSantis, and the Rest
“We’re going to have an absolute clown show of a primary,” said Alex Bruesewitz, a Trump-aligned consultant, in a May 25 interview with The Epoch Times.
He argued that the announcements from Scott and DeSantis have set the stage for more pols to rush in where many have so far feared to tread.
In his judgment, that’s down to DeSantis’s falling poll numbers in the past several months.
Bruesewitz claimed DeSantis wouldn’t be up against so many possible rivals “had he kept the momentum that he had in mid-January.”
“It’s clear that DeSantis is a huge threat to Trump,” said Elon Gerberg, a DeSantis advocate, in a May 26 interview with The Epoch Times.
Gerberg is the founder of the parental rights group Florida Fathers for Freedom.
“I started a whole organization trying to get dads to the forefront,” he said, citing the mask mandates in schools as a trigger for his activism. DeSantis, a relatively early leader against pandemic-era restrictions on liberty, helped create the context for the conservative activism now flourishing in the Sunshine State.
