Only four Trump Cabinet veterans back his 2024 bid
Only four veterans of former President Donald Trump’s Cabinet are backing his 2024 election bid, a recent tally shows.
Of 44 former Cabinet members surveyed by NBC News, just former chief of staff Mark Meadows, budget chief Russell Vought, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, and acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell, are supporting their onetime boss.
“As I have said, I am proudly supporting & endorse Donald J. Trump for president in 2024. He is the only person I trust to take a wrecking ball to the Deep State. I’ve seen his willingness up close & behind closed doors. My friend & former boss is going to finish what he started,” Vought tweeted in May.
Two alumni of the Trump Cabinet, former Vice President Mike Pence, and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, are running against him in the 2024 fray.
Trump later downgraded the UN ambassador role to a non-Cabinet position after Haley announced her departure.
Some veterans of the Trump Cabinet appear to be keeping their powder dry as the GOP primary process plays out, while others are outright opposing him.
“I hired ten to one that were fantastic. We had a great economy. We had phenomenal people,” Trump told Fox New’s Bret Baier when pressed on the lack of support from administration veterans last month.
Trump had tapped individuals from across the conservative spectrum for his administration — including individuals with conflicting philosophies on the economy, national security, and a host of issues.
Defenders of Trump contend the wide range of picks showcased his open-mindedness and outside-the-box thinking on policy issues of the day.
But while many veterans of the Trump administration often commend his policy achievements, some have been outspoken about their misgivings concerning Trump’s temperament and behavior.
“He does not have the discipline, he does not have the ability for strategic thinking and linear thinking or setting priorities or how to get things done in the system,” former Attorney General Bill Barr said of Trump at a luncheon in May.
“I’ll jump off that bridge when I get to it,” he told NBC when asked about a hypothetical Trump vs President Biden 2024 matchup.
Others have questioned Trump’s viability in a general election, given his 2020 defeat against Biden.
“I am working hard to make sure that someone else is the nominee,” former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told NBC. “I think he’s the Republican who is most likely to lose in a general election, of all our leading candidates. If anyone can lose to Joe Biden, it would be him.”
Since leaving the White House, Trump has taken shots at some of his former Cabinet members — and administration alumni more broadly, like former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Trump’s total administration turnover rate eclipsed every president since Ronald Reagan, according to a Brookings Institution analysis.
The high turnover tally was largely driven by a lower rate of retention during his first two years. The latter half of his presidency with roughly in step with his predecessors.
Despite the lackluster enthusiasm from those who worked with him in the White House, Trump remains one of the most heavily endorsed 2024 GOP contenders.
Notably, his chief rival Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has faced questions about the lack of endorsements from Florida’s congressional delegation.
DeSantis has the backing of almost 90% of Republicans in the state’s legislature, and at least one sitting Florida congresswoman — Rep. Laurel Lee.
Trump, a resident of the Sunshine State, has the stamp of approval from at least a dozen sitting members of Florida’s congressional delegation: Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Vern Buchanan, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Carlos Gimenez, Anna Paul Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, John Rutherford, Greg Steube, Michael Waltz, and Daniel Webster.
The 77-year-old Trump is far and away the 2024 GOP frontrunner– with a whopping 34-point lead in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
There was no immediate comment on the tally from a Trump campaign spokesperson.
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