Former Republican National Convention (RNC) chair Reince Priebus said that the problem facing GOP 2024 presidential hopefuls is that they are attempting to “dethrone” former President Trump, who he says is the “Bruce Springsteen of the MAGA movement.”
“I think the difference between this year and 2016 is that Donald Trump is the Bruce Springsteen of the MAGA movement. And these guys are a cover band, trying to dethrone the Bruce Springsteen of the MAGA movement,” Priebus said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Priebus, who was the RNC chair from 2011 to 2017, said that Trump’s Republican challengers, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are not going after the former president. On the other hand, Trump is taking aim at his opponents, especially DeSantis who Trump has nicknamed “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
When asked how does DeSantis form a path to the nomination, Priebus suggested that the Florida governor and other Republican candidates need to engage in what he called Trump’s “smash mouth politics.”
“So they’re banking on a lot of things happening between now and in 2024. And I think that these other folks that are getting in, Ron DeSantis, if they’re not willing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump’s smash mouth politics, it isn’t going to work,” Priebus said on Sunday.
DeSantis said last week that Trump mocking his name is “petty” and “juvenile,” noting that the former president’s behavior contributed to his loss in the 2020 election.
“Honestly, I think that his conduct, which he’s been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now because I think he alienated too many voters for things that really don’t matter,” DeSantis told Jack Heath on “The Pulse of New Hampshire.” “So I don’t get into the gutter on any of that.”
Trump is the frontrunner in the GOP 2024 presidential primary as he maintains a comfortable lead in recent polls over DeSantis, who trails Trump in second place in recent polling.