Donald Trump's entry into the 2024 presidential election intensifies the power struggle within the Republican Party.
While there's no sign the former president's base is splintering, some GOP megadonors have publicly pledged they won't be supporting his third run for the White House, and some Republican elected officials have signaled they're ready to move on, reported CNN.
"For years, the equation in the GOP has been simple. Many top Washington office holders would be delighted to sever ties with Trump, whom they regard as unfit for office," wrote CNN columnist Stephen Collinson. "But his mystical bond with the party’s voters meant that any politician who wanted a future in the GOP had to genuflect before him."
Some donors have already said they'll support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to enter the presidential race, and that could give cover for other Republicans looking to move on from Trump.
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"In the old GOP, grassroots voters who wanted a tough line on immigration, attacks on the press, disdain for experts and scientists and culture war policies could only find them in Trump," Collinson wrote. "But now potential presidential candidates and lawmakers operate according to his playbook. It’s possible to have Trumpism without Trump himself and the political liabilities and chaos that he brings."
"Time will tell whether this new reality begins to weaken Trump’s power in the base," he added.
If the party does turn the page, it's not clear at all what a post-Trump GOP would look like.
"The Republican Party is plunging into an identity crisis after its November red wave dissolved," Collinson wrote. "And while almost everyone with power and influence in the GOP agrees it’s a mess, no one can agree on how to fix it. Or whether Donald Trump should be involved."
