In a video that was shared to social media on Thursday, former President Donald Trump refers to himself as the 45th and 47th president of the United States, a statement that suggests he is planning a second presidential run for 2024.
In the video, Trump is teeing off on a golf course when the videographer refers to him as the 45th president. Trump promptly corrects him, implying that he will be the president after current President Joe Biden, who is the 46th president.
“Forty-fifth and 47th,” Trump says.
While the sycophants stroke his fragile ego by telling him every shot is the most incredible they’ve ever seen, Trump says he will be the 47th president. https://t.co/YL8ilTSbJP
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 26, 2022
Currently, however, it seems that Trump will face difficult odds in winning the 2024 presidential election. While the former president remains the most popular option in Republican circles, his popularity among the electorate overall is quite low.
Polling from the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research this month shows that only 27 percent of voters in the U.S. want Trump to run again, versus a whopping 72 percent who don’t want him to run.
But if Trump does decide to run, it’s likely that he’ll successfully secure the GOP nomination. A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted last week found that 49 percent of Republican-leaning voters want Trump to be the party’s nominee. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who came in second place, only secured 13 percent support.
If Trump goes up against Biden for a second time, the race will be close, as that same poll found Biden leading Trump by just one point.
Beyond Trump’s lack of public support, the former president faces myriad legal troubles. The Trump Organization is currently under civil and criminal investigation by the state of New York and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for allegations of tax evasion; the company also allegedly lied about its net worth in order to obtain business loans.
Meanwhile, Trump faces potential criminal charges in Fulton County, Georgia, where county District Attorney Fani Willis is currently determining whether the former president is guilty of attempting to coerce state officials to engage in election fraud.
In a telephone call that was recorded in December of 2020, Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” him 11,780 votes — the exact number needed to overturn Biden’s win in the state. The former president also threatened Raffensperger and his legal counsel, saying that they could be held criminally liable if they didn’t comply with his demands.
Willis is currently determining whether to go forward with a criminal case against Trump, and has said that she will make a decision sometime in the first half of this year. If Trump is charged and found guilty, he could face a potential prison sentence of one to three years.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $136,000 in one-time donations and to add 1440 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy