The 2024 Presidential race has been a mainstay of recent headlines, fueling fervent discourse across the world as November grows nearer. Current Vice-President Kamala Harris is facing ex-President Donald Trump, who is running for a third time after losing to President Joe Biden in 2020. While it was certain that Trump would run for this year’s presidency after his prior claims of a rigged election in 2020, it would seem that his candidacy is not guaranteed in 2028.
During an interview with Sinclair Media Group, Trump was questioned about possibly running again if he loses to the Democratic party’s candidate. “No, I don’t. I think… that will be it,” he responded. “I don’t see that at all.”
However, he did express optimism for the results of November 5th, saying, “Hopefully, we’re going to be very successful.”
These comments can be interpreted as somewhat out of character for the 45th president. It is a rare occurrence for Trump to even mention the possibility of an election loss for him, and his recent comments acknowledging this hypothetical loss may be due to the surge in popularity for candidate Harris since Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race. However, Harris and Trump are still very close in most national polls.
The difference in the two campaign’s favour is stark – in August alone, the Harris campaign brought in $189.6 million, compared to $44.5 million raised by the Trump campaign. Furthermore, the Harris-Walz campaign has been using popular social media apps like TikTok to influence young voters, with multiple of their most popular videos racking up over 21 million views. The ‘TeamTrump’ TikTok account is failing to reach these numbers, with 1.5 million followers compared to the 4.5 million of the ‘KamalaHQ’ account.
Trump also mentioned the possibility of a loss just days prior to his Sinclair interview. At an event hosted by the Israeli-American Council, he mentioned the possibility of losing and implied that Jewish voters would bear some responsibility if that were to happen.
“Do they know what the hell is happening if I don’t win this election?” he asked. “And the Jewish people would have to do a lot with that if that happens because at 40% [support] that means 60% of the people are voting for the enemy.”
His remarks drew condemnation from the Harris-Walz campaign, as well as sharp criticism from nonpartisan organisations like the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League.
It is important to note that U.S. law prohibits presidents from serving more than two terms, meaning Trump will not be able to run in 2028 if he wins this campaign. If Trump does not win this election, it may well be the last the USA sees of him as a presidential candidate.
