Trump Shares Whether He Will Support GOP Nominee if It Is Not Him
As in 2016, there are questions about what former President Donald Trump will do if he does not win the Republican presidential nomination. On Thursday, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt noted former Maryland Gov…
As in 2016, there are questions about what former President Donald Trump will do if he does not win the Republican presidential nomination.
On Thursday, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt noted former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) “told me that if you are the nominee, he will support you.”
“My question to you, Mr. President, if you’re not the nominee will you support whoever the GOP nominee is?” he asked.
Trump responded, “It would depend.”
“I would give you the same answer I gave in 2016,” he continued. “It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”
Listen to his comments below:
This is a kind of strategy to essentially scare Republicans into voting for Trump.
He tried it in the 2016 campaign, and it certainly worried Republicans at the time. Back then, it was not clear how strong a political force he was. And the prospect of a fairly sizable chunk of the base not voting for the nominee petrified many Republicans.
But 2024 might be different.
Republicans have seen the consequences of staying home and not voting in Georgia’s 2020 Senate elections — which gave Democrats a narrow majority and the ability to ram through massive spending packages.
There would likely be conservatives who would decline to vote for the nominee if Trump did not endorse them, or told not to vote for the nominee.