OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Speaker Mike Johnson met with former President Donald Trump and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson this week to discuss growing the currently slim Republican majority in 2024.
“Just had a great meeting with President Trump this President’s Day. Together, we will grow the majority and save America!” Johnson said.
Johnson spokesman Greg Steele released a statement saying, “Speaker Johnson met with President Trump in Florida on Monday to discuss growing the majority and securing Republican victories up and down the ballot in November.”
“Specifics of the discussion were not revealed, and it’s unclear what the Republican plan is to make gains. The NRCC hit record-high fundraising in 2023, raising over $91 million going into a presidential election year, which may be impacted by Trump’s likely ascension to the status of Republican nominee when the majority is decided by a handful of swing districts,” the Washington Examiner noted.
“The Republican National Committee saw a relatively poor fundraising year in 2023, with $87.2 million raised, $93.5 million spent, $1.8 million in debts, and just $8 million in cash on hand. Trump faces his own money matters, as he owes significant court-ordered fines and is slapped with growing legal bills. In addition to the more than $55 million spent on legal fees by the former president in 2023, he’s been ordered to pay $354.9 million and $83 million in separate court cases this month,” the outlet added.
The closer the country gets to the November elections, the better Trump appears to be doing against President Joe Biden when it comes to a range of key issues facing the country.
In a newly released ABC/IPSOS poll, respondents were asked to state which candidate — Trump or Biden — they believed would better handle a series of key issues in the country, including crime, immigration, the economy, guns, and more.
In general, it seems that Americans express greater confidence in Trump’s ability to address key current issues compared to Biden.
For example, 43 percent trust Trump to manage the economy, whereas only 31 percent feel the same about Biden, giving Trump a +12 advantage.
Forty-one percent indicated they have more faith in Trump’s ability to address the issue of crime in the country, while only 28 percent expressed the same confidence in Biden.
Additionally, Trump holds a ten-point lead in handling inflation, an 18-point lead in managing immigration, a one-point lead in addressing gun violence, and a three-point lead in dealing with matters concerning Ukraine and Russia.
Biden’s age has become one of his biggest drawbacks, as poll after poll has shown most Americans, as well as a significant number of Democrats, believe he’s too old to serve a second four-year term.
According to a separate survey this week, almost half of voters believe that he won’t ultimately be the party’s nominee and that someone else will take his place before the election.
According to a new Monmouth University poll, 48 percent of respondents think that Biden will be replaced before the election.
Questions surrounding Biden’s age and mental acuity have been an issue for Biden throughout his presidency, but concerns have only increased after special counsel Robert Hur released a damning report that described the president as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
“The Hur report doesn’t seem to have shifted public opinion on whether Biden mishandled classified documents. At the same time, it probably has done more to reinforce existing views of Biden’s physical and mental vigor. When we asked a different question about each candidate’s age back in the fall, there was already a wide gap in concern about Biden compared with Trump,” Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, noted in a statement along with the survey.
