(LibertySociety.com) – Former President Donald Trump is currently considered by many Republicans to be a major frontrunner for the 2024 Presidential Primary Election. Currently, there are several other individuals who are either in the running or expected to run, but they all seem to have one thing in common — an unwillingness to directly target Trump.
A Fox News article noted that most of them refrain from criticizing the former president, often insinuating that he is the target of their dialogue, without explicitly stating his name. During her CPAC speech, Nikki Haley spoke of moving the party in a different direction, as mentioned in her announcement ad, but never mentioned former President Trump by name. Vivek Ramaswamy has disagreed with the former president on certain things but is certainly not attacking his policies, instead focusing on his vision of where he wants to take America.
Former Secretary of State during the Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, who was known during his time in office as never shying away from making his positions known, is also having trouble including the word “Trump” in his political speeches. Pompeo has also teased a possible run for the White House in the past. During his speech at CPAC, he was assumed to be speaking of the former president when he talked about celebrity leaders, stating that they have “their own brand of identity politics, those with fragile egos who refuse to acknowledge reality.” However, when asked about his rhetoric in a media interview with Fox News, he avoided answering the question.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has hinted at a run for the oval office, has been the only one to criticize former President Trump. However, his pride in the accomplishments that were made during the Trump administration are often a part of the conversation, Fox News reports. Most of his critique of the former president involves the events surrounding January 6th, 2021, with the VP otherwise refusing to offer up any other forms of critique that is often sought from him during media interviews. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce any intention to run but is widely believed to be planning a bid, has also outright avoided criticizing former President Trump, even after taking multiple hits from him during his CPAC speech and on Truth Social.
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