It’s not just Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, or other candidates and their teams out there seeking out endorsements — implied or otherwise — at the moment, but the media complex at large that’s trying to get the 2024 GOP primary endorsement game into full swing.
But there is resistance, of course. The jockeying for position must continue, the holding out for bargaining chips, and all that.
Still, Trump has not had a hard time getting his big namers in line in the past on something as major as a reelection run. So when the jerkface media like CNN went around to deliberately provoke controversy by seeking confirmation of Trump support from his inner circle figures, I would’ve expected a better response than this.
CNN contacted eight former Trump campaign officials, in addition to Lewandowski, who remained in Trump’s inner circle throughout his presidency and were public fixtures in the media. Only three publicly plan to support his 2024 bid. Another two indicated their desire to remain neutral in the primary, and the other three refused to weigh in publicly or did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary, and Katrina Pierson, his former 2016 campaign spokesperson, both were noncommittal about an endorsement.
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n a recent phone call, the former president asked Sanders for her support, and she told him she was not yet ready to do so. The interaction was first reported by The New York Times and later confirmed by CNN.
Pierson, meanwhile, told CNN she is personally not endorsing any candidate right now.
“It’s a primary. I’m a grassroots person. Eventually, it’s in my nature to get behind somebody,” she said. Pierson added, however, that DeSantis has “a lot of great ideas” and that some grassroots voters are moving toward the Florida governor.
Others who had been part of Trump’s circle did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment or declined to speak on the record about whether they plan to back Trump’s 2024 effort: Kellyanne Conway, who served as Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and as White House senior counselor; David Bossie, a longtime Trump adviser; and Brad Parscale, Trump’s former 2020 campaign manager.
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On Thursday, another former Trump official, Ken Cuccinelli, formally launched a new super PAC aimed at urging DeSantis to enter the 2024 race, becoming the latest onetime Trump supporter to line up behind the Florida governor.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 06: President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the “Stop The Steal” Rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation’s capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
This is the dynamic that could decide the 2024 GOP race
A source close to the former president brushed off the lack of public support from some former allies.“We believe they’ll get on board. It’s early, and people have different reasons for not being able to publicly come out for [Trump],” the source told CNN, pointing specifically to Conway’s contract with Fox News and Sanders’ interest in not alienating Republican lawmakers and officials in order to be successful as governor.
Yeah, jerk move by CNN but that’s what the media does. What’s interesting is the result they got.
The DeSantis factor is real and that’s why Trump is swinging hard and early. Honestly at this point it’s time for DeSantis and Pence to just say what they’re doing. I know that’s not the conventional political wisdom but I think they are only hurting the field by delaying. The press is getting it started. Trump has already got it started. Let’s just get this thing underway with all the cards on the table. Right?