Former Trump adviser Larry Kudlow says he should hold off on 2024 bid announcement
Former President Trump prepares to speak at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.
Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council under former President Trump, said on Friday that the former president should wait to announce a 2024 presidential bid until after the Georgia Senate runoff.
“I think it would be terrific if my former boss Donald Trump put his own political plans on hold just until we get through the ‘Herschel first’ operation — that’s Dec. 6,” said Kudlow.
Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker will face Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in the Georgia runoff next month after both candidates failed to get 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
It is unclear at this time who will control both chambers of Congress, though the Senate results are currently tied 49-49.
During a campaign event for Sen.-elect J.D. Vance (R) in Ohio on Monday, Trump teased a “big announcement” he plans to make on Nov. 15, which many believe will be his intention for a third presidential run.
Kudlow said on Fox Business that “a number of leading politicians have talked to me and suggested the wisdom that President Trump would unlock a good chunk of his own PAC money to assist in the ‘Herschel first’ operation.”
The TV host said unity among Republicans is key leading up to the runoff election, adding that the “end zone is a GOP Senate with 51 votes.”
“Now is not the time for all kinds of finger-pointing and blame-gaming. Now’s the time for some party unity for a change to push Herschel Walker over the goal line and into the end zone,” said Kudlow of Walker, a former NFL player.
The comments from Kudlow come amid GOP fears that a Trump 2024 bid could backfire on the party and cost Republicans the Senate seat in Georgia.
Several high-profile Republican candidates, including Arizona Senate nominee Blake Masters, lost their 2022 midterm races.
Trump this week has also attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, both of whom are rumored to possibly seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The former president criticized the Florida governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious” after DeSantis won his reelection bid in the Sunshine State by an eye-popping 20 points over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.
Trump also targeted Youngkin over Truth Social on Friday, claiming that the governor’s electoral success was attributable to the former president.