WAUKEE, Iowa – Former Vice President Mike Pence says former President Donald Trump misplaced his means on Jan. 6 and walked away from conservative rules on all the pieces from abortion to spending and world conflicts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis says Mr. Trump is working to his left on immigration and crime, and he says the ex-president gave Dr. Anthony Fauci an outsized affect through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Mr. Trump is a “bitter, angry man” who’s responsible for the rise of President Biden.
And Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says Mr. Trump’s views on Ukraine and Social Security are misguided.
As the 2024 GOP presidential discipline begins to return into focus, so have the early indicators of how the White House hopefuls plan to cut Mr. Trump right down to dimension.
It is a transparent departure from the 2016 GOP nomination race.
“This race is upside down compared to 2016,” mentioned Alex Conant, who labored on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential marketing campaign in 2016. “Trump enters the race not as a sideshow, but as the main event, and I think every candidate realizes they need to go through Trump to win the nomination.”
Mr. Conant mentioned, “We are seeing the first sustained attacks on Trump from the right that we have really ever seen.”
Indeed, Mr. Trump largely obtained the kid-glove therapy after he descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower roughly 8 years in the past to announce his bid for the White House.
The consensus on the time was that Mr. Trump would flame out and it was solely a matter of time.
Mr. Trump as an alternative shocked the political universe, capturing the celebration’s nod after which defeating Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Trump’s rivals this go-round are eager to not make the identical mistake.
The Trump group didn’t reply to a request for remark for this report.
On Wednesday, Mr. Pence went after Mr. Trump at his marketing campaign launch. He warned voters the ex-president’s actions on Jan. 6 confirmed he can’t be trusted to defend the Constitution, and that he has been wavering on conservative points.
“The sanctity of life has been our party’s calling for half a century – long before Donald Trump was ever a part of it. Now he treats it as an inconvenience, even blaming election losses on overturning Roe v Wade,” Mr. Pence mentioned in his speech.
Mr. Christie, at his marketing campaign launch in New Hampshire, mentioned Mr. Trump is the only particular person Mr. Biden defeated outdoors the state of Delaware in over 45 years.
“It is not amusing anymore. It is not entertaining anymore,” Mr. Christie mentioned of the Trump present. “It is the last throes of a bitter, angry man who wants power back for himself — not for you.”
Mr. DeSantis has seemed to poke holes in Mr. Trump’s document on abortion, crime, immigration, spending and the federal response to the coronavirus.
“He wanted to amnesty 2 million illegal aliens in 2018 when he was president. I opposed him on that because I’m opposed to amnesty,” Mr. DeSantis mentioned in a current interview on The Matt Murphy Show. “He also attacked me for opposing some of these omnibus spending bills. And I did because it was a waste of money.”
“He said he was going to eliminate the national debt when he ran in 2016. He ended up adding almost $8 trillion to the debt in four years. So he’s running to the left.”
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has been making the case Mr. Trump’s abrasive type has harm the celebration.
“I believe people are starving for a message of hope and optimism,” Mr. Scott mentioned at a current cease in Iowa. “But what they won’t allow is for a hopeful optimistic message that lacks conservative principles or a backbone. I got both.”
Mr. Scott mentioned he’s assured that his strategy will enchantment to voters outdoors the celebration’s base, rising the chances that conservative insurance policies develop into the legislation of the land — “as opposed to something that we are yelling about from the outside looking in.”
Marc Short, Mr. Pence’s former chief of workers and chief advisor, mentioned the 2024 presidential discipline discovered from 2016 that they must be extra prepared to have interaction Mr. Trump.
“In 2016, Donald Trump came to conservatives and said I will meet you where you are to get your support, whether on issues of life or taxes or Supreme Court picks. And yet, today what you see is Donald Trump asking conservatives to fight for his grievances, and basically support him as opposed to adopting any new conservative positions,” Mr. Short mentioned.
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