Trump declared 2024 run to ward off rival DeSantis

Donald Trump is feeling the heat of his rival Ron DeSantis meaning a “slugfest” is on the cards in the months ahead, according to a political scientist.The former President, 76, defied voices within his party to announce an audacious election bid last night, telling a crowd at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida: “We have to save our country.”This is despite a poor midterm election performance by the Republican Party, blamed in part for Trump’s involvement.The likes of party candidates Brian Kemp (Governor Georgia) and Ron DeSantis publicly distanced themselves from Trump, while candidates he backed in Pennsylvania and Arizona, among other places, failed to secure victory.Pollsters had forecast a ‘Red Wave’ sweeping Congress off the back of Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and gripes with the slowing economy.But that failed to materialise and senior Republicans were quick to call for a new direction for the party.South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds told CNN: “I want someone who is going to unite our party. That’s how we win elections. A reasonable person who would unite the party.”Privately, some Republicans were more blunt. An anonymous Republican added: “It’s like we’re on season seven, eight of The Apprentice. People are sick of it, they want to turn the channel. Let’s find something else.” Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis may be set to enter a 2024 ‘slugfest’. (Image: GETTY) Several Trump-backed candidates lost highly contested races. (Image: GETTY)But one factor sure to drive Trump’s competitive nature is the growing popularity of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, 44, who is widely regarded as his main rival for the Republican candidacy.Speaking of this Professor Daniel Drache, author of Has Populism Won? The War on Liberal Democracy, said he believes Trump’s announcement last night is a “defensive move”.He told Express.co.uk: “It’s kind of a defensive move to make sure that DeSantis gets his message, gets the memo.”If Trump [is] blamed for the underperformance of the Republicans in the midterms, then there’s a good chance he [DeSantis] would run but it’s very messy, right, to have a slugfest between these two guys.”Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won re-election in Florida overwhelmingly and flipped traditionally Democratic voters.However, DeSantis will face an uphill battle if he wants to compete for the nation’s top job.The “slugfest” may already be quietly taking shape with the two Republican heavyweights taking veiled, or in Trump’s case open, shots at one another.Previously, when it was suggested that DeSantis might run against Trump, the former president warned he would release unflattering information about the Governor and questioned his “loyalty and class”.READ MORE: Family demands ‘truth’ after four students found dead DeSantis has gained legitimacy following his stunning Florida victory. (Image: GETTY) Trump still draws huge crowds at his rallies. (Image: GETTY)DeSantis avoided getting into an open argument with Trump at the time, however, last night he took a snipe at the former president in all but name.Speaking to reporters just hours before Trump announced his 2024 bid, DeSantis contrasted the races in which Republicans succeeded – including his own Florida race – against other, Trump-backed candidates who performed poorly.DeSantis didn’t explicitly name Trump, but it was hard to miss the connection to the former president.He said: “Some of the others, these independent voters aren’t voting for our candidates, even with Biden in the White House and the failures that we’re seeing. That’s a problem.”When pressed about Trump’s impending announcement yesterday, DeSantis added: “At the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.”DON’T MISS:Prince Harry ‘firmly excluded’ by King [REPORT]NATO to hold emergency talks to discuss Poland triggering Article 4 [INSIGHT]Sunak clears schedule for emergency meeting over Poland missile [ANALYSIS] Trump is ‘chief’ of the Republican Party’s base and voters will likely flock to the former president (Image: GETTY)But the Republican Party’s base adores Trump, or as Prof Drache puts it: “Trump has his base, and I don’t think anyone should underestimate [their] loyalty to the chief.”He said: “People should not fall into ‘I don’t like someone, therefore, I think that he will go away because he’s not part of my tribe’. Politics doesn’t work like that, historically.”DeSantis previously said he wouldn’t run in 2024 if Donald Trump announced his candidacy – but the stunning Florida win may have changed the Governor’s calculus.Prof Drache said DeSantis had demonstrated his legitimacy with his huge re-election win in Florida and that corporate donations to fund an election campaign could follow.He added that DeSantis would only run if there were “winning conditions” against Trump, in other words if he thought he could beat the former president in a primary which would likely be vicious.