DDHQ News Spotlight: Republicans Scramble to Delay Trump’s 2024 Campaign Announcement

Welcome to this morning’s Decision Desk HQ Morning News Spotlight on Elections Daily as part of the Decision Desk HQ News Network.

Morning Headlines

• Former President Donald Trump has continued to push for an early 2024 presidential campaign announcement, despite pushback from a growing list of Republicans who believe he should wait until after the midterms. According to the Washington Post, several advisors have indicated that Trump may be planning for a September announcement. Trump’s eagerness is likely attributed to two things: Joe Biden’s approval rating is low and worsening, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is gaining in both fundraising and polling. Both of these developments incentivize Trump to get in the race sooner rather than later, but several Republican circles are scrambling to delay his announcement. They argue that his candidacy could drag down Republicans and drive turnout among Democratic voters. On the other hand, Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster, said, “You might as well get the benefit if you’re going to take the lashes too… If you want to energize the base and get the base out, no one does it better than Trump.” Either way, it seems almost certain that Trump will make a third-straight run for the White House.
• The Idaho Republican Party appears set to reject the 2020 election results. At its three-day convention starting Thursday, Idaho Republicans are preparing to pass a resolution similar to the one already adopted by Texas Republicans, which reads, “We reject the certified results of the 2020 presidential election; and we hold that acting president Joseph Robinette Biden was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.” Former Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court Jim Jones lashed out against the resolution, “(The Idaho Republican Party) has gotten so caught up in conspiracy theories, meaningless culture war issues, that they have quit being able to function as a meaningful political party,” he said. “We have got to get away from this authoritarian streak that has infected the Idaho Republican Party, as well as a good part of the nation, because it’s absolutely tearing our country apart.” The resolution in Idaho will also falsely contend that the audits conducted in Wisconsin and Arizona found the vote count was fraudulent.
• An arrest warrant has been issued for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in Colorado. Peters is under indictment for allegedly breaching election equipment after the 2020 presidential election and violating conditions of her bond that prevented her from traveling without explicit court approval. She was deemed a flight risk and ordered to remain in the state as she faces seven felony criminal charges stemming from an attempt to copy sensitive election software from county voting machines in an alleged effort to prove the 2020 election was fraudulent.

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