Former President Trump could become a presidential candidate by the end of the year, according to Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump’s top advisers and his 2016 campaign manager.
Asked whether Trump, who has said he plans to run again, would announce his candidacy after the midterm elections — before Thanksgiving — Conway said Friday in an interview with CBS News senior correspondent Kathryn Herridge: “Well, he would.”
“He’s just as active as anyone else in this midterm election. It’s also important for computing, Catherine, because we’re in the most ironic, if not unprecedented, situation right now,” Conway said. “We have a president, a sitting president, whose party doesn’t really want him campaigning with them.”
“I think after these midterms are over, President Trump will be able to assess the timing of his announcement,” Conway continued. “I’ll tell you why he wants to run for president — Donald Trump wants his old job back.”
If Conway spoke with Herridge in July, she said her advice to Trump is to wait a few months. Conway, the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign, was an adviser to the former president for most of his time in office.
“My advice to the president privately is my advice to him publicly: ‘If you want to make an announcement, wait until after the midterms,'” she said this summer.
As she suggested in July, Conway reiterated her view that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate who is now dealing with the devastation caused by Hurricane Jan, need to wait to run. She said completing two terms as Florida governor would better position DeSantis for a future presidential bid. “He’s got the skills, he’s got the temperament, he’s got the guts and he’s got the commitment to get it done,” Conway told Herriage.
“Many of his peers will be in the United States Senate,” Conway continued. “So when he’s running against Ted Cruz, Rand Paul or Marco Rubio, say Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and others, Ron DeSantis, his argument is that you’ve been in the United States Senate, sometimes in the minority party, sometimes in the party most, but what can you show? They will have to answer these questions. He will say that I was the governor of the third largest state. Look what I did.”
She dismissed the notion that Trump and his political team are worried about competition from DeSantis in 2024: “I don’t think so, no,” she said. “They are friends, they are allies. I think people want Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump to be two scorpions in a bottle.” She added: “They just don’t.”
Interview with Conway on air CBS News Streaming Friday.
Grace Kazarian contributed to this report.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kellyanne-conway-trump-wants-old-job-back-would-like-to-announce-within-weeks/
