Trump Says 'We're Going to Win Back the White House' in 2024 But Hopes He Won't 'Have to Be a Candidate'

President Donald Trump talked about a potential 2024 presidential run in a speech on Saturday, but [...]

By Michael Hein

President Donald Trump talked about a potential 2024 presidential run in a speech on Saturday, but perhaps not for him. Trump spoke on behalf of Sen. Kelly Loeffler in Georgia, ahead of her runoff election next month. He told the crowd that Republicans are going to "win back the White House again" in 2024, but "hopefully I won't have to be a candidate."

Trump's words confused many Americans this weekend — both his supporters and detractors, in different ways. He continued spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, saying: "We are going to win back the White House." He then endorsed Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue in the Georgia runoff election against Democratic challengers, saying that "We're going to take back the [House of Representatives] in 2022." He went on: "And then in 2024, and hopefully I won't have to be a candidate, we're going to win back the White House again."

Many supporters were confused by what the president was saying here, as his phrasing was not entirely clear. Some took this to mean that he hopes to overturn the results of the 2020 election and be back in the White House in January, and that he "hopefully" won't "have to" eschew the law and run for a third term in 2024. Others thought that he was saying he "hopefully" wouldn't "have to" run for a second term in 2024, meaning that some other Republican candidate would do so. "I don't want to wait until 2024," Trump said. "I want to go back in three weeks."

Still, Trump's ongoing legal challenges against the 2020 presidential election results are bearing no fruit, and at this point, chances are slim that he will retain the presidency in January. According to a report by Business Insider, enough states have now officially certified their election results to make President-elect Joe Biden the clear winner of the election. So far, Trump's lawsuits against these results have turned up no evidence of voter fraud, election tampering or other substantial reasoning.

Still, Trump refuses to concede the election, and he continues to speak out at events like this one and on social media as if he has real evidence of election tampering. This has many pundits concerned about how his rhetoric will impact Americans' faith in the electoral system itself, both in the short term and the long term. Sources close to Trump told The Daily Beast that he is now planning his first 2024 campaign event for the same day as Biden's presidential inauguration next month.

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