COLUMBIA, SC ( Associated Press) – Former President Donald Trump prepared to kick off his campaign to win the White House in 2024 on Saturday with early voting events in two states, the first since announcing his candidacy two months ago. .
Trump will keynote at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s annual meeting and then travel to Columbia, South Carolina, where he will present his campaign team for the state. The party holds two of the first three primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina, giving them enormous power in candidate selection.
Trump and his allies are hoping the event will be a show of force for the former president after a slow start to the campaign that left many doubting his conviction to run again. In recent weeks, his supporters have turned to political operatives and elected officials for their support at a critical time when other Republicans are preparing their own campaigns.
Stephen Stepanek, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and one of Trump’s campaign managers in the state in 2016, said, “The starting signal has rung and the campaign season has begun.”
Although Trump is the only person to have announced his presidential candidacy for 2024, other candidates are expected to do so in the coming months, among them Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; former Vice President Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster, Senator Lindsey Graham and several national legislators plan to attend the event at the governor’s office, but Trump’s team has struggled to garner support from state legislators, including Including those who supported him in previous campaigns.
Some have explained that, with more than a year to go before the primaries, this is not the time to offer endorsements or that they wait to see who the other applicants are. Others have said it is time for the party to move on from Trump and seek a new generation of leadership.
