WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Although it is still early, the GOP presidential campaign season is in full swing, as a number of Republicans are expected to enter the 2024 race.
Currently, the man to beat in the Republican primary is still former President Donald Trump.
His indictment has injected fresh life into his re-election bid, along with millions of dollars in new donations. His campaign put his prosecution front and center to rally support from the GOP base, and the influx of cash has him launching new shots at party rivals as they attempt to shift focus to other issues.
Trump’s super-PAC has already launched its first TV attack ads against its biggest GOP threat: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“The more you learn about DeSantis the more you learn he doesn’t share our values. He’s just not ready to be president,” a narrator says in the ad from MAGA, Inc.
The former president still has a commanding lead in most polls — more than 20 points ahead of DeSantis, who is expected to launch a presidential run but has not yet officially jumped into the race.
Since Trump’s indictment, many Republican voters have rallied to his side. The former president is now making it a focal point of his campaigning.
“The real criminal is the district attorney because he leaked massive amounts of grand jury information,” Trump said.
While Trump throws punches at DeSantis daily, DeSantis has yet to respond in kind, instead — traveling the country — he’s been focusing early campaigning on what he calls the “Florida Blueprint.”
“If you look at my administration, part of the reason we were able to do well is we’re not leaking to the media, we don’t have palace intrigue, we don’t have any drama. It’s just execution every single day, and we end up beating the left every single day,” DeSantis said.
If that was a subtle shot at Trump, at least one candidate has finally decided to be less subtle about attacking the former president.
Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate and former ambassador to the United Nations, slammed her former boss in a letter sent to her campaign donors during her trip to Iowa this week, saying “Trump’s candidacy is more consumed by the grievances of the past and the promise of more drama in the future, rather than a forward-looking vision” for America.
Meanwhile, Republican voters are still waiting on Vice President Mike Pence. On Tuesday, at the University of Alabama, he said if he does run, he’d run on Trump-Pence policies, but with civility.
“I’d hope people would look at not just who we are, but how we sought to carry ourselves over the course of our career,” Pence said.