Appearing on daughter-in-law Lara Trump's podcast, The Right View, former President Donald Trump hinted that he may be preparing for a 2024 comeback. When asked whether there is "hope" for another run at the White House, he teasingly replied:
"You do have hope, that I can tell you … You do have hope. We love our country, this country. We all owe a lot to our country, but now we have to help our country.
“And we were there. We were so good. What we did with Iran, what we did with China. We were all set to do some great things. And then you see what's going on right now."
But how could a resurgent Trump deal with the inevitable negative Fourth Estate and all-but-certain social media blockades? Within hours of the interview being posted on Facebook, it was flagged and removed for presenting the "voice" of the 45th president. However, it seems, to borrow the catchphrase of failed presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): "He has a plan for that."
Building Behind the Scenes
In recent weeks, two events signaled that Trump may have a workaround for bypassing the legacy and Silicon Valley media influence.
The first foray into pushing the boundaries (or the buttons?) of the tech giants was to casually announce through former senior adviser Jason Miller that he would likely be "returning to social media in probably about two or three months, with his own platform." Rumors of a social media platform from Trump have been rife since his banning from Twitter and Facebook, but would it be a success?
Ever keen to find the negative, interested parties sought to find the answer.
A Hill/HarrisX poll found that among Republican voters, 54% would use a Trump platform. The MSN headline read: "Only 54% of Republicans Say They'd Use Donald Trump's Planned Social Media Platform." One wonders how many GOP voters even use platforms like Twitter or Gab? Far from being a negative result, more than half of those locked-in voters represent roughly 40 million Americans. And what of other voters?
For independent voters, 58% said they "would not" use the platform; for Democrats, this was a massive 78%. But again, not all voters use social media, so these are all promising numbers for the former president.
Trump has also launched a website that proposes to preserve "the magnificent legacy of the Trump Administration, while at the same time advancing the America First agenda." The site leans heavily on offering access to media outlets – perhaps in an effort to build a "friendlies database."
It is certain that Trump sees his treatment at the hands of the Fourth Estate as biased, lamenting during the interview that he was not afforded the same positive coverage as President Joe Biden.
Why Tease?
If the former president is indeed planning to make another run for the White House, why is he being coy? Knowing that an early announcement would lead to dozens of lawsuits, wall-to-wall negative press, and likely being blamed for any congressional losses in 2022, perhaps he feels it is better to get his ducks in a row before making it official.
Has President Trump learned the lessons of 2016 to 2020? If so, he may yet be a formidable electoral force.
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Read more from Mark Angelides.
