OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and top political counselor sent a message to his successor during an interview posted online on Saturday.
Kellyanne Conway told CBS News’ Catherine Herridge that Trump “wants his old job back” and that he could announce a 2024 candidacy before Thanksgiving.
Specifically, Herridge asked Conway if Trump would wait until after the Nov. 8 midterms to announce but do so before the holiday, to which she responded: “Well, he would like to.”
“He’s as active as anybody in these midterm elections. That’s important to the calculus also, Catherine, because we have the most ironic, if not unprecedented situation right now,” Conway continued.
“We have a president, a current president, whose party doesn’t really want him to campaign with them,” the former Trump counselor continued. “I think once those midterms are done, President Trump can assess the timing of his announcement.”
When @CBS_Herridge asked whether fmr. President Trump, who has hinted he plans to run again, would announce after the midterms, his fmr. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway responded, "Well, he would like to." NOTE: Did not rule out before Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/jEThKk21o2
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 1, 2022
“I will tell you why he wants to run for president — Donald Trump wants his old job back,” she said, adding that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should hold off running for president while also downplaying previous reports of tension between the two leading GOP leaders.
“They’re friends, they’re allies. I think people want Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump to be two scorpions in a bottle. They’re just not,” Conway said, before going on to offer some perspectives on DeSantis.
“He has the skills, he has the temperament, he has the moxie, and he has the commitment to” become president, she told Herridge.
“Many of his generational peers will have been in the United States Senate. So if he’s running against a Ted Cruz or Rand Paul or Marco Rubio, let’s say Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and others, Ron DeSantis, his argument is you’ve been in the United States Senate, sometimes in the minority party, sometimes in the majority party, but what have you got to show for it?” Conway advised.
“They’ll have to answer those questions. He’ll say, I’ve been the governor of the third largest state. Look what I’ve done,” she added.
Kellyanne Conway says fmr. VP Mike Pence would have a viable path to the White House only "if [fmr.] President Trump doesn't run" for president. Asked if she would encourage Trump to endorse Pence if he didn’t get into the race, Conway said “I sure would.” pic.twitter.com/Hsf7QJ4WMG
— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 1, 2022
Later, Conway said that the only viable path for former Vice President Mike Pence to the White House would be if Trump doesn’t run. Asked if she would advise Trump to endorse his former VP if Trump himself decided to sit out in 2024, Conway said, “I sure would.”
Kellyanne Conway says Rep. Liz Cheney's comment earlier this week signaling that she may leave the GOP if Trump is the presidential nominee is "shocking.” And if she runs for President, Conway said Cheney could be a “spoiler.” @CBSNews Stream Prime Time
pic.twitter.com/xJUuK6Bmsh— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) October 1, 2022
Speculation about when Trump will announce his candidacy — not whether he’ll run — has been rampant for months.
“If Trump is going to run, the sooner he gets in and talks about winning the next election, the better,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told the Washington Post in July after playing a round of golf with the former president. “It will refocus his attention — less grievance, more about the future.”
Graham also said he believes that Democrats will try to use Trump as a motivator for their own base whether he makes a formal announcement before the midterms or not. He also believes, like other GOP strategists, that an announcement before the midterms will drive Republican voter turnout.
“You might as well get the benefit if you’re going to take the lashes too,” Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster working for multiple Senate candidates this election cycle, told the Post as well. “If you want to energize the base and get the base out, no one does it better than Trump.”
Political consultant Dick Morris, who once advised then-President Bill Clinton, believes Trump is all-in for 2024 and what’s more, he believes Trump will be victorious.
“Will he run in 2024? You bet he will. Will he be the GOP nominee? Absolutely. Will he win the election? Yes,” he wrote in his new book, “The Return.”
“Our candidate in 2024 will be, and must be, Donald J. Trump. Accept no substitutes. Only he can put together the coalition that generated 74 million votes in 2020. And we don’t want a bleached-out, kinder, nicer, gentler Donald Trump, either! We want and need the same Donald Trump who won in 2016, increased his vote share in 2020 by eleven million votes, and in between, was one of our truly great presidents,” he said.
