‘INEVITABLE’: Senate Republicans Now See Trump As ‘Increasingly Dominant’

According to Senate Republicans, despite facing legal issues, former President Donald Trump is growing his support within the Republican Party’s caucus and appears increasingly probable to be their nominee in the 2024 election. Trump’s polling lead over his closest competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has increased twofold following his indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on March 30th.

“I just think that his nomination is inevitable. I really do. He’s going to be the nominee. I’d be stunned if he’s not,” one Republican senator anonymously told The Hill.

The ex-president has garnered numerous significant endorsements in Congress, including the backing of Steve Daines (R-MT), the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. GOP strategists and Republican senators claim that Daines’s endorsement is indicative of Trump being perceived as the leading contender to secure the party’s presidential nomination in 2024.

“You’ve seen the numbers. I’ve talked to voters. People are beginning to recognize that. Steve Daines’s endorsement reflects that reality. He’s going to be the nominee, we want him to work with us,” the anonymous senator explained.

Another Republican senator, who preferred not to be named and has remained impartial in the primary race, affirmed that Trump is the undisputed frontrunner in next year’s election.

“I assume Trump will be the candidate.” The senator added that Daines aims to endorse Trump early to improve the chances of collaborating with him to flip the Senate.

Trump has amassed 11 endorsements from Republican Senators, while DeSantis, who has yet to announce his presidential candidacy, has not received significant Senate support.

The current list of Senators who have endorsed Trump:

• Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee)
• Mike Braun (Indiana)
• Ted Budd (North Carolina)
• Steve Daines (Montana)
• Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
• Bill Hagerty (Tennessee)
• Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi)
• Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma)
• Eric Schmitt (Missouri)
• Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
• J.D. Vance (Ohio)

“Not only is Donald Trump doing well in the primary and he’s the clear frontrunner in the primary, he’s also beating Joe Biden in the general election, 47 to 43,” said Jim McLaughlin, Trump’s pollster, discussing his firm’s surveys on a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 election.

“Our polling never had [Trump] ahead in the general in either 2016 or 2020,” he clarified. “A lot of folks don’t understand – it’s pretty amazing, people who are supposed to be smart – why Donald Trump is as popular as he is, especially amongst the base. The reason is because he had a successful presidency. [Voters] agreed with him on the issues,” McLaughlin said, according to The Hill.

A number of recent polls have demonstrated Trump’s dominance once again in the Republican Party.

A poll by the John Locke Foundation showed that Trump was the clear front-runner among likely GOP primary voters in North Carolina with 55%. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in second with 22% of the vote, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence with 8%, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley with 5%. Trump’s support was highest among young primary voters aged 18-34 and voters above 65.