Trump is now a completely superior Republican candidate who is almost impossible to displace, says researcher Maria Lindén.
Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis said on Sunday evening that he was withdrawing from the Republican presidential race.
He told the message service in X suspending his campaign and supporting the former president in the Republican primary race Donald Trump.
Trump’s only real challenger remains the former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. In recent weeks, Haley rose alongside DeSantis as Trump’s number one challenger in many polls.
Trump is now completely superior as a candidate, says Yelle a researcher at the Center for the Study of American Politics and Power at the Foreign Policy Institute Maria Lindén.
– Trump is still in such a strong position in the Republican Party that it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to knock him out of that place, says Lindén.
In order for Trump to be left out of the presidential race, he himself must want to quit.
– Other reasons for Trump’s absence would be illness or death, Lindén reflects.
The Republican Party is a one man cult
Is the American Republican Party becoming a cult of one person if there are no challengers to Donald Trump?
– Yes, there are clear features of a cult of one person, Lindén admits.
Maria Lindén estimates that the Republican Party will protect Trump until the end. The party would not move Trump aside under any circumstances.
According to Lindén, Trump will be the Republican presidential candidate, even if the ex-president is in prison.
– If imprisoned, Trump would feel that he is the victim of a political manhunt and that a great injustice is being done to him. If the party were to move him aside on that basis, a lot of Trump’s supporters would turn against the party, Lindén estimates.
According to Lindén, political history would be made in the United States if the Republicans have a candidate sitting in prison who successfully challenges the sitting president – or even wins the presidential race.
– That would be something for us political researchers to wonder about for a long time.
According to Lindén, there is a large group of voters within the Republican Party who are more loyal to Trump than to the party itself.
According to Lindén, disciplinary measures have been taken against Republicans who have criticized Trump. The party has therefore actively tried to silence the voices criticizing Trump.
– Many of the voters of the Republican Party really want Trump to become president again, says Lindén.
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