Former President Donald Trump is still the frontrunner to win the Republican Party's 2024 nomination for the presidency, but fewer Republicans are showing fear of taking him on directly in the wake of the 2022 midterm elections.
As noted by Semafor reporter Dave Weigel, former Trump United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley reiterated over the weekend that she was seriously considering jumping into the presidential race even though she had earlier pledged not to run if Trump decided to get in.
Although this sort of statement might have once been brushed off as wishful thinking, Weigel argued that the losses of multiple Trump-backed candidates in the midterm elections made Republicans at last understand that the former president does not possess magical political powers.
"Trump is still the 1) only GOP candidate and 2) frontrunner," Weigel wrote on Twitter. "But the mood of the party really did change after Trump endorsed the candidates who fumbled away the Senate/AZ. And if Herschel Walker loses, that will keep up."
Many big-name Republican Party figures in recent days have called on the GOP to find another nominee besides Trump in the 2024 elections, including former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr.