The Apprentice: 2024 Republican primaries

Who will be the 2024 Republican candidate?

  • Donald Trump

    Votes: 33 48.5%
  • Donald Trump Jnr

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Eric Trump

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Ivanka Trump

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • Josh Hawley

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Matt Gaetz

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nikki Haley

    Votes: 4 5.9%
  • Ted Cruz

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • Lindsey Graham

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Marco Rubio

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Mike Pence

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Mike Pompeo

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tucker Carlson

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • Sean Hannity

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Devin Nunes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Jim Jordan

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Chris Christie

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 11 16.2%

  • Total voters
    68
  • Poll closed .
Can't believe I'm saying it but even Trump would be better than that fascist campaigner De Santis.

That guy is a ******* psychopath.

Trump would have a far better chance of losing the general too.
 
Mar 20, 2007
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De Santis has to be playing the long game, hoping that Trump's legal issues catch up with him and he becomes the default Republican nominee

Cant see another way he can get through looking at his recent numbers
Way too early to write anyone off, particularly someone that hasn't even announced they are running.

At this stage in 2016, Trump hadn't even announced he was running for President and we thought it was going to be another Bush/Clinton election (he didn't declare he was running until June).

If DeSantis nominates, and is still doing this poorly after the first couple of debates, then he is in trouble, but not yet.

It will be interesting to see how Trump handles the debates this time round. In 2016 he was very much the surprise packet and the other candidates weren't used to being bullied in debates. Now I feel like other candidates are a bit more prepared for Trump debating, and he's no longer an unknown quantity, which was a major part of his success in the primaries.
 

Major Colvin

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Can't believe I'm saying it but even Trump would be better than that fascist campaigner De Santis.

That guy is a ******* psychopath.

Trump would have a far better chance of losing the general too.

Like most I'm genuinely torn, in that obviously I want Trump removed from public life immediately (and preferably imprisoned) but ordinarily would settle just to have his political career fizzle out. Amazingly, though, the only apparently viable alternative in the minds of Republicans is this other dog-whistling fascist who somehow comes across as even worse than Trump.

Trump is obviously batshit crazy, but probably just sane enough to stoke violence and civil unrest without explicitly calling for it.

DeSantis is such a sickening, disingenuous creature - a conniving and seemingly intelligent narcissist. Given what Trump has already gotten away with in terms of giving Republicans in state legislatures the nod to end democracy, I feel DeSantis would have no problem ending democracy as well. And so ultimately I view the prospect of him becoming President even worse than Trump, because he will have some semblance of competence and the backing of most of the mainstream media.

The corporate media doesn't want a return of the unpredictability of Trump (in addition to him being overall more populist rather than corporatist, like DeSantis). Most of corporate media outside Fox (and even they will be gun-shy to back Trump on the back of the Dominion lawsuit, etc.) and those to the far right will back Biden in a General Election, whereas I could definitely see a scenario where if DeSantis were the nominee, even the likes of CNN would be lending him credence and 'both-sides-ing' the the centrist Biden with the outright fascist DeSantis.

Given all that, yes, sadly I agree its probably better off to have Trump as the Republican nominee - even though Biden is terribly unpopular and unfortunately looks like he'll run again. Biden v Trump is the better of two terrible options.

Way too early to write anyone off, particularly someone that hasn't even announced they are running.

At this stage in 2016, Trump hadn't even announced he was running for President and we thought it was going to be another Bush/Clinton election (he didn't declare he was running until June).

If DeSantis nominates, and is still doing this poorly after the first couple of debates, then he is in trouble, but not yet.

It will be interesting to see how Trump handles the debates this time round. In 2016 he was very much the surprise packet and the other candidates weren't used to being bullied in debates. Now I feel like other candidates are a bit more prepared for Trump debating, and he's no longer an unknown quantity, which was a major part of his success in the primaries.

I agree, its a bit too early too call because there's about 100 news cycles that need to play out between now and the prospect of a first debate. But I actually cannot see a way that DeSantis overtakes Trump from here - he's missed his window. Trump is trashing him/running humiliating ads about him every day/referring to him as a pedophile etc. Meanwhile, DeSantis thinks he can stay in his Florida bubble lane, taking jabs by stealth at Trump which nobody outside the press pack watches or cares about.

Basically, DeSantis is nothing more than a typical smarmy politician, who the conservative media have thrust in the limelight on the back of his defiance with COVID and his opportunistic slandering of values of liberalism and equality, now referred to as "woke'' - but the reality of DeSantis is a tiny shell of a man. He's not funny, he's not authentic, he's not good at all around people. On debate stage with Trump, he will be crucified. Perversely, I think we all hope that eventuates.
 
Last edited:
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Donald "Four Time Loser" Trump. That's the word from the GOP. He may not even be endorsed by the Party at the Republican National Convention. Wouldn't that be a hoot.
Maybe he'll run as an independant instead.
Good. Further split the GOP base
 

E Shed

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Sure looking that way isn't it.

He's only 44, reasonable chance he just decides to side-step the whole Trump shitshow and have a crack in '28.
Trouble with that is he runs the risk of someone better comes along. He's the hot ticket at the moment for all the Nazis who are sick of Trump being such a fuhbar he's unelectable beyond the cult of MAGA.

He's just swept the board in his most recent election and he's persecuting anything & everything that he can attach a woke label to.
By the time the next one rolls around his star may have dimmed (people having caught on to the fact that beyond being a cruel, soulless, authoritarian Nazi there's as much personality & charisma behind his dead eyes as a sock puppet).

Someone like Tucker Carlson perhaps may have thrown his hat in the ring having spent the next 5 years getting his ducks in a row.

Its a bit lose/lose for Ron. He can't take on Trump but now is his best chance at having a chance.
 
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Trouble with that is he runs the risk of someone better comes along. He's the hot ticket at the moment for all the Nazis who are sick of Trump being such a fuhbar he's unelectable beyond the cult of MAGA.

He's just swept the board in his most recent election and he's persecuting anything & everything that he can attach a woke label to.
By the time the next one rolls around his star may have dimmed (people having caught on to the fact that beyond being a cruel, soulless, authoritarian Nazi there's as much personality & charisma behind his dead eyes as a sock puppet).

Someone like Tucker Carlson perhaps may have thrown his hat in the ring having spent the next 5 years getting his ducks in a row.

Its a bit lose/lose for Ron. He can't take on Trump but now is his best chance at having a chance.

Agreed, I just don’t see it. He’s come to prominence by essentially legislating on every anti-“woke” issue that conservatives care passionately about and then forget a week later. His run as Governor ends in 2027 so he won’t be able to have that going for him by the time he runs for President.

Which is insane, because he should have a successful story to tell - the fight against wokeness is the only thing Republicans care about in terms of policy, and with the terrible midterm results he’s one of the few politicians who’s been successful with that strategy. But he seems unable to sell that point about himself, nor does he seem to have any answers on combating Trump’s aggression. I don’t see how he can do it.
 
Elections will be interesting for the following people up for re-election representing blue or purple states. Dems may take back the House if they keep existing seats and take a few of these.

2023-04-27_155405.jpg
 
Neither Trump nor Pence, here is why:

Donald Trump was in Berlin for his first state visit with Angela Merkel. Trump asked her secret of her great success.
Merkel told him you just have to have a lot of intelligent people around you.

"How do you know if someone is intelligent?" asked Trump.

"Let me demonstrate." She picked up the phone, called Wolfgang Schäuble and asked him a question, "Mr. Schäuble, it's your father's son, but not your brother. Who is it?" Without hesitation, Schäuble answered , "Quite simply, it's me!"
"You see," Merkel told Trump, "this is how I test people's intelligence."

Thrilled, Trump flew home, and immediately called Mike Pence to ask him the same question. "It's your father's son, but is not your brother. Who is it?" After much back and forth, Pence said, "I have no idea, but I’ll try to find out the answer by tomorrow!"

Pence just can't figure it out and decided to seek advice from former President Obama, so he called him and said, “Mr. Obama, it's your father's son, but is not your brother. Who is it?" Obama answered, “Easy, it's me!" Happy to have found the answer, Pence called Trump and said triumphantly, "I have the answer, it's Barack Obama!"

Trump rages and says, "No you jackass, it's Wolfgang Schäuble!"
 
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Neither Trump nor Pence, here is why:

Donald Trump was in Berlin for his first state visit with Angela Merkel. Trump asked her secret of her great success.
Merkel told him you just have to have a lot of intelligent people around you.

"How do you know if someone is intelligent?" asked Trump.

"Let me demonstrate." She picked up the phone, called Wolfgang Schäuble and asked him a question, "Mr. Schäuble, it's your father's son, but not your brother. Who is it?" Without hesitation, Schäuble answered , "Quite simply, it's me!"
"You see," Merkel told Trump, "this is how I test people's intelligence."

Thrilled, Trump flew home, and immediately called Mike Pence to ask him the same question. "It's your father's son, but is not your brother. Who is it?" After much back and forth, Pence said, "I have no idea, but I’ll try to find out the answer by tomorrow!"

Pence just can't figure it out and decided to seek advice from former President Obama, so he called him and said, “Mr. Obama, it's your father's son, but is not your brother. Who is it?" Obama answered, “Easy, it's me!" Happy to have found the answer, Pence called Trump and said triumphantly, "I have the answer, it's Barack Obama!"

Trump rages and says, "No you jackass, it's Wolfgang Schäuble!"
I've met people like Donald Trump, but with better ethical and work standards than him.
They take my orders at McDonalds.
 
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