Looking to maximize his status as the only 2024 Republican presidential contender to declare so far, the former president will make back-to-back appearances Saturday in New Hampshire and South Carolina, unveiling his leadership team in the Palmetto State from the steps of the Statehouse.
The pair of stops in two early-voting states provides an opening for Trump to reinvigorate his slow-moving campaign before any rivals take the plunge and join him in the primary field. Aides to the former president also believe his return to the trail will help alleviate electability concerns that have been raised publicly and privately – by allies, former advisers and some of his soon-to-be opponents – about his ability to defeat President Joe Biden in a rematch.
Trump will first test his strength as a candidate in a keynote address Saturday to hundreds of New Hampshire Republican leaders and grassroots activists at the state party’s annual meeting in Salem. He will then head to South Carolina, a state that helped pave his way to becoming the GOP nominee in 2016 and where he is expected to unveil a handful of endorsements as he looks to repeat his past performance. One of those endorsements will come from GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and newly elected GOP Rep. Russell Fry, who have already endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign, also plan to attend as a show of support.
“The former president is still extremely popular in South Carolina, but there’s other mitigating factors as well, like other people in the race or how he would fare in a primary versus general. He’s 1-1 right now, and [the 2024 election] would be the tie-breaker, I suppose,” said former South Carolina House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, who served as state director of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Trump’s current allies insist he is hitting the campaign trail with the wind in his sails, following Meta’s announcement Thursday that his Facebook and Instagram accounts will soon be reinstated and recent revelations that classified documents were found at the homes of both Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence. Sources close to the Trump campaign also cited Kevin McCarthy’s successful – if drawn out – bid for House speaker as a turning point for the former president, who has attempted to take credit for coaxing McCarthy holdouts into backing the California Republican after a dayslong standoff on the House floor.
