In the shadow of the Russian war on Ukraine, a handful of Republican alternatives to Donald Trump are emerging with the hopes of becoming the party’s standard-bearer in 2024.
From Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to former Vice President Mike Pence, the potential GOP candidates are trying to walk the tricky line of distancing themselves from Trump but not from Trump’s loyal supporters.
Sensing that Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin could hurt the former president’s prospects, the flock of GOP leaders are each trying to showcase their foreign policy chops in the midst of the fierce fighting in Ukraine.
The moves show that even Trump is not invincible and could be vulnerable to a challenge, partly because of his effusive praise of Putin.
But the next nominee can’t be a Mitt Romney RINO. He or she has to be a true conservative. Voters may want change from Joe Biden, but they may not want to go all the way back to Trump.
Pence has been the most notable GOP figure to try and break away from Trump over the last few weeks, warning that there is no room in the party for Putin “apologists” — a not-so-veiled whack on Trump.
In a speech to GOP leaders, Pence — who has been trashed by Trump for failing to overturn the 2020 election — hit back in a surprisingly strong way.
“Where would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom?” Pence said. “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin. There is only room for champions of freedom.”
Pence’s well-funded advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, also launched a $10 million ad buy attacking the Biden administration for increasing America’s reliance on Russian oil.
Rubio, who has already run a failed presidential campaign, has been a fixture on cable news due to his position on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Rubio also stepped into a controversy when he and another GOP senator shared a screenshot of their live video talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite being told by Ukrainian officials not to do that.
Rubio defended himself, and sought to turn the criticism back on his Democratic opponents.
“Anybody pretending this tweet is a security concern is a partisan seeking clicks,” a Rubio spokesman said.
Haley made the rounds on Sunday talk shows last weekend to increase her visibility in what could be an audition for 2024. She criticized the Biden administration for not being prepared for the war, but also agreed with the Democratic administration’s decision not to impose a no-fly zone.
“We should be making sure that we’re moving forward on giving (Ukraine) the missiles they need. They have said they don’t have what they need. We should have done all this before Putin did his first move,” she said. “We were late to the game, we’re still late to the game. It’s not too late now, but we’ve got to get on the ball.”
Another potential Republican candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, even got into the act, blaming Biden for what he called weakness and for failing to make America more energy independent.
DeSantis also defended the former president, saying “when Trump was president, they (Russia) didn’t take anything.”
Who would you vote for on the GOP ticket?
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Trump would be an excellent choice. But can he and our country survive the Democrat Marxists & Deep Staters daily lies and propaganda that is continuing today and will escalate when Trump announces he is running again. Along with the fairytale impeachments when elected. Our government has not indicted any of the Coup persons yet either.
Good point, but why would we assume they (the leftists) wouldn’t do the same thing to DeSantis that they did to Trump. I would like to see both of them running on the same ticket.
IMO they would do those hit jobs, on ANYONE WE NOMINATE… Trump or otherwise.
Sad to say but Trump would be the worse pick for the GOP. There is far too much toxic hate feelings about Trump across this country, and it would be in great enough numbers to keep him from winning any election. That being said, we need to find a candidate that could actually beat the democrats. We need to have the citizens of this country to decide to rid our government of all left wing democrats before they succeed in destroying this nation of ours.
I understand that Trump would have a difficult time in the next election. But I am sick and tired of the same old **** from Republican candidates who are spineless. I would never vote for any candidate that has ever said anything bad about Trump. We need a Warrior in the White House, not a simpering, whimpering apologist.
Which is why I’d prefer Destantis..
When you vote next November, make it VERY clear that we voters expect results. Impeach Biden and make it VERY clear to the ex porno star she’ll also be impeached if she acts like the escapee from a Delaware nursing home. Better for her just to sit in the Whitehouse and do nothing until her time runs out. Then Trump takes over.
I’d also lov it if we could impeach PELOSI too!
Trump for President, De Santis for VP but only if allowed to be effective and not just a figurehead and do nothing like most VPs. In view of Trump’s age if something happens to him DeSantis would be perfect to take over the Presidency
I think Florida would hate to give him up. 49 other states need leaders like this.
OR destantis as Pres, TRUMP AS vp!
candace owens
Maybe Trump should switch to the Constitution Party and give them a bump in popularity. I’ve been registered and voted mostly Republican my whole adult life but haven’t donated to them in 20+ years as I figured out they don’t spend my donations on the candidates I prefer.
There is no way I would vote for Nicki. She was my governor, thus know better than to vote for her, Rubio is an open border and for givien illegals citizenship. I would love Desantis as President but would rather Trump finish his term. We need decades of Trumps and DeSantis’s to undo all the harm of elitist.
“Yesterday reporters asked me if I thought President Putin was smart,” he said. “I said, ‘Of course, he’s smart,’ to which I was greeted with ‘Oh, that’s such a terrible thing to say.'” I like to tell them, ‘Yes, he’s smart.'”
Vladimir Putin President of Russia is smart. An Evil, killer and dictator but “smart”.
One does not become as powerful as Vladimir Putin by being a dummy like F… Joe Biden.
One must know their enemies!