Former President Donald J. Trump announced his run for the Presidency in the 2024 general election, on Nov. 15, from his Mar-a-Lago estate. This will be Trump’s third consecutive run for president. This announcement came shortly after Trump filed his intent to run with the Federal Election Commission. 

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said in his announcement speech. 

This announcement comes after Republicans underperformed in the recent 2022 midterms. Despite the historical precedence being in the party’s favor, the GOP was unable to flip the senate. This came as a shock to conservative voters. 

“The embarrassing midterm loss in such a favorable environment for Republicans was certainly a shock to the system, and is the first time I have seen the Republican party as a whole recognize the poison that Trump brings to the party,” said DePaul senior Dace Potas. 

In addition, Trump’s third presidential run comes in the wake of the 2020 election, which two years later, he still denies losing to Joe Biden. 

Trump’s failure to concede culminated in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The former president is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. On Friday, Nov. 19, AG Merrick Garland named prosecutor Jack Smith, the special counsel for “Trump-related probes,” via AP. 

“We will stop the steal. Today I will lay out just some of the evidence proving that we won this election and we won it by a landslide,” Trump said in a speech to his supporters on Jan 6, 2021. “I’ve been in two elections. I won them both and the second one, I won much bigger than the first.” 

These claims have been debunked and the rate of voter fraud in the 2020 election was not substantial. 

“0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. Given this tiny incident rate for voter impersonation fraud, it is more likely, the report noted, that an American “will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls,” via Brenner Center for Justice report on voting fraud. 

For some voters, election denial is reason enough to not support his run this time around. 

“His refusal to move beyond the 2020 election and continued lies about its legitimacy, as well as his role in the Capitol riot, are too much baggage for him to be a competitive candidate, nor one we should be elevating to the presidency,” Potas said.

Despite his time out of office over the last two years, students are not surprised by this return to the spotlight.

“Knowing his track record, it doesn’t come as a surprise [that Trump is running for reelection] but still [it’s] worrisome,” said DePaul freshman Brigid O’Brien. 

But the question on voters’s minds is could he win the nomination and the election in 2024? For members of the electorate who don’t feel represented by career politicians, he still may be a good fit. 

“It’s the divisiveness of his character that makes him so appealing to those who wanna “stick it to the man,” O’Brien said. “That’s what scares me because are we really willing to sacrifice a future planet or a future generation just to have [that] man in office again?” 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to have strong support for the Republican nomination. In an exit poll conducted after this year’s Nov. 8 election, it was found that 41% of Republicans would prefer DeSantis in 2024, compared to 39% for Trump, via YouGov Poll. 

Big-time donors to Trump’s 2020 run aren’t convinced either. Two GOP mega-donors have decided to turn the page on Trump’s time representing the Republican party. 

“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO and co-founder of investment firm Blackstone recently told Axios. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries.” 

Another big-time donor of the presidential hopeful echoed the same tune. 

“For a litany of reasons, I think it’s time to move on to the next generation,” Ken Griffin, founder of the investment firm Citadel, told Politico. 

Conservatives have the same reservations about Trump. 

“Donald Trump is actively damaging the Republican party, and his ego is too in the way for him to step back and let the next generation take over,” Potas said. 

With the Republican base split, some are convinced he cannot win this race. 

“If he runs again, he’s probably going to lose because there’s a majority opposed to Trump, only a plurality supports him,”  DePaul political science professor Wayne Steger said.

While the midterm election showed an uptick in young voters, the real nail in the coffin for conservatives is the loss of 65+ voters. 

“The midterm wasn’t so much that youth voter turnout was up, but that people over 65, which are Republican core, was down,” Steger said. 

Some voters aren’t convinced that conservatives will abandon him. 

“It’s a very Machiavellian way of thinking,” O’Brien said. “With such divisiveness now, identifying with one of the major parties, it wouldn’t surprise me if they chose to align with him just because in their eyes, it’s better than someone who leans left.”