Matt Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union, told Newsmax on Friday the only hope for Republican presidential candidates not named Donald Trump to gain traction in the race for the 2024 nomination is to "shake it up" politically.
Schlapp told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" he did not see that happen during the first GOP primary debate, which Trump skipped, on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"Here's the problem for all of them," Schlapp said. "The only way any of them has a chance is they have to shake it up, and this is not a debate to see who will be the vice president. I really don't think that's what this is.
"They have to change the dynamics of the race, and that's what I was looking for. I don't know if there's anything they can do. I don't know if it's their fault, but they certainly didn't do it."
The canyon-like gap between Trump and the rest of the primary field of candidates has only grown wider since he faced his first of four criminal indictments in April. In the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, Trump sits at 55.4%, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis next at 14.6%.
A New York Post poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday showed that 61% of Republican voters preferred Trump to be the 2024 GOP nominee, and no other candidate got above double digits. DeSantis was next at 9%, a margin of 52 percentage points.
"Those guys are just not going to be able to knock him out of first place," Schlapp said. "He is up too much. ... I think that the Republican primary voter has kind of spoken now over and over and over again, which is they might not like everything about Trump, but they like his policies, and they want to give him another chance.
"All these polls can't be wrong. It's not like it's an 8- or 9-point race. This is like a 30-, 40-, 50-, 60-point race. It's unreachable."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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