According to a report from ABC"s Rick Klein, Donald Trump's decision to jump into the 2024 presidential race two years before the actual election has blown up in his face after it was greeted with a yawn followed by multiple controversies that are hurting his bid and driving down his polling numbers.
On the day after the former president was ridiculed across the board -- including from stalwart supporters like Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn -- for hyping a "Major Announcement" that turned out to be the sale of digital trading cards with his image, Klein suggested it is another misstep since the November presidential announcement.
According to the report, the former president is now looking for a "reset" that may never come or may lead to another "reset" down the line if this one doesn't work.
"The first month of the third Trump campaign might be remembered for how former President Donald Trump himself was nowhere to be seen but everywhere to be found -- and that was before the 'major announcement' of how to turn $99 into animations of the former president shooting lasers from his eyes," Klein wrote, adding, "There have been multiple legal setbacks, an infamous dinner at Mar-a-Lago, another rebuke in Georgia and a call for the 'termination' of the Constitution to bring him back into office. There's also been a raft of new polling suggesting it's not quite accurate to think of Trump as the front-runner for the Republican nomination, even though he's still the only major declared candidate for 2024."
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As for that reset, Klein is reporting the former president is meeting with Jewish leaders behind the scenes as well as "a prominent LGBTQ Republican group."
However, as he wrote, that may not be enough to stop Trump's slide in the polls as conservatives look elsewhere after the midterm "red wave" never materialized with many blaming Trump's interference for the failure to capture the Senate.
"The early announcement this time has not intimidated rivals or enhanced Trump's standing in any measurable way. The road ahead leaves room for more resets -- but also more space for Trump's vulnerabilities to stay on display," Klein concluded.
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