Expert Reveals The Two Things Trump Doesn't Need To Win The 2024 Presidential Campaign
While Joe Biden might be president, it's still his predecessor, Donald Trump, who's making headlines. And despite the fact that Biden isn't even a year into his term, people are already speculating about the 2024 elections — and whether Trump will run or not. When asked on the 20th anniversary of September 11 if he had any plans to pursue re-election, Trump's reply was uncharacteristically restrained, but typically vague: "I think you're going to be happy," he said (via Fox6). "Let me put it that way, okay."
But even if he does run again, does Trump actually stand a chance at winning? As the only U.S. president in history to be impeached twice, his legacy has been marred by disaster, including the deadly Capitol insurrection (which he was impeached for inciting, though he was legally acquitted). He has also spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and falsely claimed that he won the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud, which has been debunked. You'd have to campaign pretty hard to make voters — apart from Trump loyalists — look past that track record.
And speaking of campaigning, this time around Trump doesn't even have access to two of the biggest tools that helped him secure the 2016 election. Could he still win without them?
Donald Trump doesn't need social media to win the 2024 presidential election, according to experts
In our social media-driven age, it shouldn't have been a surprise when avid one-time avid Twitter user Donald Trump secured the 2016 presidency. Trump certainly made extensive use of Twitter and Facebook in his campaign, even crediting the two channels for helping him win, as he explained on CBS' "60 Minutes." But, should he run again in 2024, he'll find himself short of at least one of these helpful online platforms. In the wake of the Capitol riots, many social media channels banned him, with Twitter citing a "risk of further incitement of violence" as the reason. Twitter later made the ban permanent, while Facebook will review his suspension in two years.
But experts believe Trump could win without social media. Speaking to Insider, political strategist Jesse Ferguson claimed that Trump sees Twitter as less of a way to reach audiences, and more for "affirmation." Steve Schmidt, a GOP strategist, said that, if anything, the bans might help Trump, as it feeds into his followers' suspicion of media bias and censorship. He also pointed out that the bans don't extend to running ads for Trump's campaign: "There's no chance that any of these companies will ban groups from being able to advertise on their platforms and survive the encounter."
That being said, Trump announced that he plans to launch his own channel, Truth Social, early next year. Whether the platform will spawn gems such as "covfefe" remains to be seen.