WASHINGTON: Former US President Donald Trump and the Republican committees appear to be in a verbal duel, with the RNC threatening to stop paying for his legal fees if he decides to declare his candidacy for president in 2024 too soon. That's before this year's midterm elections on November 8th.
According to a report by Fox News, senior Republicans have urged the former president to delay announcing his 2024 candidacy until after the mid-term elections for the House of Representatives. If he does, he will lose RNC financing for legal expenses.
By declaring his candidacy ahead of the January 6 Capitol riot panel reports anticipated September, Trump attempted to harness his support within the GOP to secure his nomination for the presidency.
The GOP has warned Trump that any attempt to make an announcement before fall or the midterm elections could be disastrous for the party as it would weaken the campaign on the economy turning bad due to Joe Biden's inept administration that the party has been building up to defeat the Democrats and retake the 435-member House.
The fact that Trump was able to get all of his candidates nominated in the GOP primary elections despite the Congressional committee on the Capitol riot tearing him to shreds with video evidence of his involvement in the attack and his inaction to put an end to it suggests that he believes declaring early gives him much greater leverage.
Trump referred to the proceedings as a "witch hunt" by a political party against a former president in the televised political theatre that the democratic party produced.
The RNC is currently bankrolling many legal cases for Trump, including personal lawsuits and government investigations into him. That flow of cash would end once he declares his candidacy for president in 2024, as per reports. Some see the move as an incentive for Trump to defer announcing his candidacy at least until after the 2022 mid-term elections, which Republicans already seemed poised to win.
Trump and Pence give speeches to try to appeal to their GOP bases
