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Former president Donald Trump has signaled he doesn’t see much running-mate potential among the current crop of Republican rivals vying for the 2024 nomination.
During a speech in Michigan on Wednesday night, Trump dismissed the GOP contenders, who were gathered in California for the second Republican primary debate, as “all job candidates.”
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“They’ll do anything: secretary of something, they even say VP. Has anyone seen a VP in that group? I don’t think so,” Trump told the crowd at an auto parts plant in Clinton Township.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung on Thursday did not directly say whether the former president is definitively ruling out all seven contenders from the debate, telling The Washington Post in an email only that Trump “was very clear in his remarks.”
Trump has a history of making off-the-cuff remarks he later walks back (along with 30,573 false or misleading claims over four years, according to a Post analysis) and has often pulled support from onetime allies — many of whom appeared on Wednesday’s debate stage.
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Trump has soured on former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who prepped Trump for his 2016 debates; Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom Trump endorsed in 2017; former South Carolina governor Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations; and former vice president Mike Pence — Trump’s previous running mate.
Haley said Ramaswamy made her ‘dumber.’ She once praised his intellect.
Though some contenders, including Christie and Haley, are hitting back at Trump harder than others, there is clear hesitation among others to lob more aggressive strikes against Trump, who is still popular with GOP voters and remains the clear front-runner in the Republican contest.: As The Post’s Michael Scherer noted Wednesday, per the RealClearPolitics national polling average, Trump is still polling 20 points ahead of all seven Republican rivals combined.
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Trump’s lead has been so strong that some of his aides have called for the Republican National Committee to cancel the remaining debates. Trump strategist Chris LaCivita, in a post Wednesday on the platform X, belittled the event as a “debate to be the designated survivor” and said the first 30 minutes of the debate validated Trump’s decision to skip it
Instead of participating in the debate, Trump spoke to supporters gathered at Drake Enterprises, a nonunion auto manufacturing plant. His visit came a day after President Biden rallied with striking autoworkers in Detroit as both figures vie for working-class support in a key 2024 swing state.
2024 presidential candidates Republican candidates are vying for the 2024 presidential nomination in a crowded field. Here are nine things to watch as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up. And catch up on the winners and losers from the second GOP debate
Republicans: Top contenders for the GOP 2024 nomination include former president Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Here is The Post’s ranking of the top 10 Republican presidential candidates for 2024.
Democrats: President Biden is running for reelection in 2024, facing two long-shot challengers, author Marianne Williamson and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Here is The Post’s ranking of the top 10 Democratic presidential candidates for 2024.
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