The midterm elections have yet to take place, but the United States took a two-year leap forward yesterday evening. In front of 5,500 people at a rally in Iowa, in Sioux City, in support of Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, Donald Trump attracted the attention of all American politics. His intention to re-nominate was already known, but the words used during the Save America Rally, the “rally to save the United States“, were a little more explicit than usual: “The elections were rigged and stolen: I ran twice, I won twice,” Trump said falsely. “Now, to make our country successful, secure and glorious, very, very, very likely I will do it again.” “Most, most likely,” he repeated slowly. “Get ready, that’s all I can say.” Not an official announcement, but we are close.
In recent months, Trump had already winked at this possibility. In Arizona, in another of his rallies after his 2020 defeat, he had said that a decision would be made soon and that his supporters would not be unhappy. However, the tycoon had been persuaded to announce a new take to the field before the mid-term elections on November 8 so that it would not lose importance in the face of the electoral event to be held in a few days. According to US political experts, he could formalize his candidacy for Republicans before November 24, when Thanksgiving will be celebrated in America.
The candidacy should come before the Justice Department’s decision on the attack on Congress on January 6, 2021 and on the top-secret documentation that Trump kept at the Mar-a-Lago residence. To appear on the presidential stage before a sentence would mean, if a sentence arrives, to politicize the ongoing process.
The Republican party is still pervaded, from the top to the militants, with supporters of the former president. Trump’s hold on the party has remained strong and it is no coincidence that Midterms there are many candidates who have supported The Donald in his fight to claim victory in the 2020 elections. In recent days, more rallies are expected in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, the so-called swing states, states without a precise political identity and which change color from election to election. With the Republican victory in the mid-term elections appearing to be a formality, these rallies aim to put their signature on success and re-accredit themselves in the eyes of the party.
A recent poll, conducted by Siena College, showed that Trump is viewed favorably by 42% of the American public. Of this 42%, however, 81% are Republican party voters. The former president of the United States, moreover, in previous rallies has hinted at some polls that would see him victorious both in the primary of his party and in a rematch with Biden for the White House. His opponents in the GOP primaries, according to Washington Postshould be Florida Governor Ron De Santis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Everything seems set for a rush to the Oval Office that will begin a minute after the election results arrive. Trump is already warming up the engines.