(RoyalPatriot.com )- After Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker lost to incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock in last week’s Georgia runoff, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich warned Republicans about a possible replay of the 1964 presidential election in which different factions of the Republican Party split, leading to Democrat Lyndon Johnson’s election.
Speaking to the New York Times, Gingrich absolved former President Donald Trump of any blame for Walker’s loss in Georgia and warned that the Republican base could become split between pro- and anti-Trump voters.
He said his “greatest fear” is that the 2024 primaries could end up being like 1964 when conservative voters backed Barry Goldwater and moderate voters supported Nelson Rockefeller.
Gingrich claimed that a pro-Trump/anti-Trump “war” during the primaries might guarantee a Joe Biden reelection “in a landslide.”
Right now, the divide is between voters who want Trump’s policies without Trump and voters who only want Trump. There is no broad, widespread part of the Republican base clamoring for a moderate like Nelson Rockefeller. And as in 2016, it is likely the majority of Republican voters will rally behind whoever wins the nomination.
We are still over a year away from the start of the 2024 primary season. Donald Trump remains the only official candidate in the race as most candidates won’t announce until next year.
But according to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Tuesday, only 33 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents support Donald Trump as the 2024 nominee. Meanwhile, 56 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Over 60 percent of respondents said they want a 2024 nominee who advocates for Trump’s America First policies but isn’t Donald Trump. Only 31 percent say they want Donald Trump to run for president a third time. This is a substantial drop from October when 56 percent wanted Trump to run.
Meanwhile, 65 percent of respondents want Ron DeSantis to run in 2024 while only 24 percent hope he remains governor of Florida.
The survey also polled head-to-head match-ups between President Biden and Trump or DeSantis. While Biden topped Trump 47 percent to 40 percent, DeSantis beat Biden 47 percent to 43 percent.
