Sen. Lindsey Graham said in an interview Wednesday evening that he believes former President Donald Trump will announce his 2024 candidacy for the White House by this time next year, especially if Republicans win back one or both chambers of Congress.
In a segment with Fox News host Pete Hegseth, the South Carolina Republican harkened back to then-President Bill Clinton’s first midterm election when, in response to a leftward policy shift that included an assault weapons ban, the GOP scored historic gains in Congress.
“In 1994 we won 73 seats to take over the Congress, the House for the first time in 40 years. If we play our cards right, we will exceed that,” Graham said.
Hegseth asked in response: “You mentioned Donald Trump, senator. Is he the nominee in 2024 right now?”
“Yeah, if he wants it. Unless there is something coming out of left field I don’t see coming, it’s his nomination if he wants it. The Republican base appreciated him. We don’t appreciate all of the things he does sometimes, but from a policy point of view, he was the most successful president from a conservative’s point of view since Ronald Reagan. It is his nomination if he wants it,” Graham said.
The senior South Carolina Senate Republican then made another prediction.
“And he will be in the White House in 2024 if he runs a disciplined campaign. And what he should do, in my humble opinion, is remind people how he secured the border, how he took the fight to ISIS, destroyed the Caliphate, how we were so much better off internationally — the Iran deal is a nightmare in the making for Israel — regained energy independence,” he said.
“So I think 2024 is President Trump’s election to lose, quite frankly,” he continued, adding that he also thinks that “2022 is a blowout year for the Republicans in the House and the Senate if we’ll talk about policy.”
“This is the year for the Republicans to take back the Senate, 2022, and when we get back the Senate, we’re gonna stop this socialist agenda and we’re gonna shape the battlefield. 2024, I think about this time,” he noted further.
“Next year, Donald Trump’s gonna announce he’s gonna run for president in 2024. So if we have the House and Senate, we should do a couple of things. One, do good things for the American people, but also bring up issues that help our nominee, which I think will be Trump,” he noted further.
“The differences between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party — bring up bills that are tough on crime, bring up bills that would secure the border, bring up bills that would stand firmly behind Israel,” Graham continued.
“So if we get the House in the Senate, we have a chance to shape the battlefield. That’s why it’s so important that we take back both bodies,” Graham added.
Trump has repeatedly teased the idea of a rematch against President Joe Biden but has yet to formally announce. Some of his other allies have also speculated that he will run again as well.
Jon has over 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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