As the 2024 Republican presidential field begins to come into focus, it’s hard not to feel a sense of déjà vu.
Donald Trump is leading in the polls and many Republican operatives are wondering who – if anyone – will manage to wrest the nomination from him.
While Trump managed to eke out a win in 2016, he is deeply unpopular among Democratic and independent voters. That he is under indictment in New York and perhaps will also be charged by Georgia officials and the U.S. Department of Justice does not bode well for his general election prospects.
Trump has drawn former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as primary opponents. More candidates are expected to enter the fray, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is viewed by many anti-Trump Republicans as the party’s best hope to defeat the former president.
Nevertheless, no one dominates the news cycle like Trump. According to a GOP strategist quoted by Politico, this all has an air of familiarity.
“It feels like fucking 2016,” said an anonymous Republican operative who backs DeSantis. “Is there anything that can suck up as much political oxygen in the American political landscape as Trump? I don’t think so.”
Another Republican strategist, David Kochel, feels similarly.
“What’s frustrating to me is we didn’t learn a damn thing from 2015 and 2016 when it comes to just giving him absolute, roadblock media coverage,” Kochel told Politico. “I get it, it’s a big story. But this was getting covered like… the opening of the war in Iraq or the O.J. chase. You couldn’t escape it.”
Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis after the governor has continued to refuse to rule out a 2024 presidential run. The former president regards this as disloyalty after he endorsed DeSantis for governor in 2018.
