Former President Donald Trump said that if he runs for president in 2024, it’s unlikely anyone in the GOP could beat him.
Trump added that it’s not clear whether he will decide to run in 2024. “But I love our country. I’m going to do what’s right for our country,” he said, noting that he’s not going to “play games” about who could defeat him in the Republican primary and that he “can’t imagine” losing the nomination.
Trump appeared to give the Newsmax interview after he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) on Sunday in Orlando, Florida.
“The crowd is incredible. The enthusiasm is, I think even beyond what we had before the election, and we had great election results more than any presidential candidate’s ever gotten, as you know, with the votes, but this crowd is just incredible. They love the country and they just want to see it succeed,” he said of his speech.
A straw poll that was taken during the event showed 55 percent of attendees said Trump should be the GOP candidate in 2024. After Trump, Republican Govenerors Ron DeSantis of Florida got 21 percent and Kristi Noem of South Dakota got 4 percent.
Almost 7 in 10 of the poll’s participants stated they want to see Trump run again in 2024, and 15 percent said they would not. Another 17 percent said they were not sure.
Trump pointed to his poll numbers in the Newsmax interview, saying he’s “never seen poll numbers like that.”
The former commander-in-chief also said he felt he needed to deliver the CPAC address rather than Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) or Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 House Republican, “because we have to save our nation.”
“We have to stop some of the things that are going on that are so bad for our country,” he added. “When you look at the border, when you look at what’s happening with energy independence, when you look at so many different elements of what they’re doing, they'll destroy our country.”
During his address to the crowd, Trump spoke for more than an hour and touched on issues including illegal immigration, transgender policies, COVID-19 lockdowns, and election integrity. He also went after Republican lawmakers who impeached or convicted him in recent weeks.
