Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will mount a bid to return to the White House in the 2024 presidential election as some fellow Republicans have questioned his political clout following the midterms.
Trump, still a major influence on the party since leaving office in January last year, saw many of his favored candidates fall short in last week's polls, underperforming expectations. His allies have typically signaled support for his view that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him, a claim he has continued to promote without evidence.
"In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States," Trump, 76, told a gathering at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, referring to his signature rallying cry "Make America Great Again."
Trump criticized President Joe Biden for failing to address persistent inflation that has caused his supporters and other voters to struggle.
"In two years, the Biden administration has destroyed the U.S. economy. With victory, we will again be the greatest economy ever," Trump said.
His announcement came as the Republican Party looked likely to retake the 435-seat House of Representatives from Biden's Democratic Party, but only by a slim margin. The Republicans failed to secure control of the 100-seat Senate.
While some senior Republicans have started discussions on the best candidate for the 2024 presidential race, U.S. media reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence had made remarks signaling they were preparing to run.
Trump criticized Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, and other party leaders in Congress for the lackluster showing in the midterms, posting an article on his own social media site criticizing McConnell for lacking an electoral strategy.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said in an NBC program Sunday that he will support McConnell after seeing candidates closely aligned with Trump underperform in the elections.
Another senior Republican, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, told an ABC program the same day, "I think there's going to be a lot of great candidates" other than Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
Former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan even called Trump "a drag on our ticket" in a TV interview the day after the midterms.
Trump is also facing allegations that he illegally retained classified documents he had access to while in office, and that he played a role in inciting the violence on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed Congress days before the end of his term.
Last month, Trump was issued a subpoena compelling him to testify under oath and provide documents to a congressional committee investigating the deadly Capitol riot.
Refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena is deemed a misdemeanor under U.S. law, punishable by imprisonment of up to one year. If the investigation committee's subpoena is ignored, the House may turn to the Justice Department for a decision on whether to bring charges.
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