In a Saturday evening interview with Fox News, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida expressed support for President Donald Trump’s hypothetical comeback, Raw Story reported.
“I am here to endorse the Trump 2024 movement, whenever the president wants to ignite it,” Gaetz declared.
Trump has not yet conceded the 2020 presidential election to Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who was declared the winner last week. Instead, the commander in chief and his allies have disputed the results of the race, alleging widespread electoral fraud and mounting legal challenges.
Trump has yet to announce a 2024 run, but Gaetz is already on board, it seems. After endorsing Trump’s hypothetical comeback, he attacked Biden.
The congressman said that the Democrat is trying to reach across the aisle, but to the wrong wing of the GOP, represented by politicians like former Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
“Joe Biden has indicated that he wants to reach out to Republicans, but he’s reaching in all the wrong places. It seems he wants to import the foreign policy of Dick Cheney and the trade policy of Paul Ryan,” Gaetz argued.
Gaetz went on to explain that Trump has changed the Republican Party, promoting stricter immigration policies and resisting military interventionism.
“We’re no longer a movement that wants to invade every cave in Whereveristan while we impoverish our people with bad trade deals and invite every illegal immigrant to cross our borders illegally.”
Gaetz has long been one of Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress. Per FiveThirtyEight , the Florida congressman has voted in line with Trump’s position 85 percent of the time. He has supported the administration’s efforts to deregulate the economy and backed the 2019 trade agreement between the United States and Mexico.
As for the 2024 election, it remains unclear whether the commander in chief has serious plans to compete for the White House once again, but some reports suggest that he is thinking about doing so.
According to The New York Times’ sources, Trump is refusing to admit defeat precisely because he is setting the stage for a comeback. Several individuals briefed on the matter told the publication that his main priority is to keep his base galvanized until he announces his bid.
Axios’ sources also said that Trump is thinking about running again in four years, which could make all the other Republican presidential hopefuls think twice before announcing their bids, given his popularity with conservative voters. As the publication noted, a recent Harris poll found that 40 percent of Americans expect the commander in chief to launch a 2024 campaign.