A longtime Republican insider does not think much of many Republican political presidential candidates' approach to handling former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Politico, former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen chided Republican presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy for refusing to directly take on Trump despite the fact that polls consistently show him as the frontrunner of the 2024 Republican primary.
“All these folks are just hoping that Trump’s going to have a heart attack on a golf course one day, and that’s going to solve this problem for them,” he said. “Not much of a strategy.”
However, a strategist close to Trump argued that the strategy makes sense because Republicans don't think they can win in a general election if they attack the Trump base.
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“If a primary gets too nasty between Trump and DeSantis, I could forsee a chunk refusing to support DeSantis,” they said. “Why were there ‘Never Trumpers’? Because of the nastiness of the primary. I do think that’s something other candidates need to be cognizant of. The voters loyal to Trump are a much more significant chunk than the Never Trumpers.”
However, this could create an asymmetric advantage for Trump, who can lob baseless accusations of being a "groomer" against his opponents with no fear of being called out for it.