Beyond Trump: MAGA struggling to find 'heir apparent' after 2024

Former President Donald Trump with Kari Lake in Florence, Arizona in January 2022 (Gage Skidmore)
Alex Henderson
November 04, 2024Election 2024

Former President Donald Trump has said that if he loses the 2024 presidential election, he won't run for president again in 2028.

Regardless, Trump wants his MAGA movement to continue, and he sees his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), as MAGA's future.

In an article published on November 4 — the day before the election — Politico's David Siders poses the question: Who, when the time comes, will lead the MAGA movement after Trump?

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"The most obvious successor to Trump, sometimes referred to by Republicans as the 'heir apparent' or 'front-runner to be the president after Donald Trump,' is his apprentice, Vance, whose stock appeared to rise after his polished performance in the vice presidential debate," Siders explains. "But it didn't rise by much. His approval ratings, dismal when Trump picked him, are still upside down."

Siders adds, "Even some of the Republicans I spoke with who are fond of Vance cringed recalling the video of his awkward encounter at the donut shop. And in recent decades, GOP vice presidents don't have a tremendous record of ascending to the presidency. Vance might ask Sarah Palin, if Trump loses, or Dan Quayle, if he wins, how things turned out for them."

Siders notes that other MAGA Republicans have been running into problems.

In Arizona's 2024 U.S. Senate race, far-right conspiracy theorist Kari Lake, according to polls, appears to be losing to Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona).

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Siders observes, "once looked to many Republicans like a future president," but some "MAGA diehards" deeply resent him "for challenging Trump in the GOP primary."

GOP strategist Barrett Marson, a conservative Trump critic, told Politico, "Donald Trump, he's a singular figure. No one can emulate him. No one can imitate him."

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Read Politico's full article at this link.