Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton told The Guardian on Friday that Republicans are desperate to get rid of Donald Trump after the GOP’s lackluster performance in the November midterms and that they fear the former president would take an awful lot of Republican candidates down with him if he runs again in 2024.
According to Bolton, it’s imperative to move on from Trump if the party wants to reclaim the Oval Office in 2024.
“Even if they loved his style, loved his approach, loved his policies, loved everything about him, they don’t want to lose and the fear is, given the results on 8 November, that if he got the nomination, not only would he lose the general election, but he would take an awful lot of Republican candidates down with him,” he told the Guardian’s David Smith.
Bolton pointed out that while there is a multitude of reasons to put Trump in the rearview mirror, the impact that the former president had on GOP fortunes in the midterms seems to be the final straw with many conservatives.
“There are a lot of reasons to be against Trump being the nominee but the one I’m hearing now as I call around the country, talking to my supporters and others about what happened on 8 November, is the number of people who have just switched Trump off in their brain,” Bolton said.
“There’s no doubt Trump’s endorsement in the primary can be very valuable to a candidate in the Republican party. But relying on that endorsement or trumpeting yourself as the Trump-endorsed candidate is poisonous in the general election,” he said before suggesting that Trump is a losing proposition.
“So if you actually want to win elections, Trump is not the answer,” Bolton declared.
Read the entire interview at The Guardian.