Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said that while he hopes that incumbent President Joe Biden remains the Democrat nominee in 2024, he said in an interview that he "cannot believe" that will be the case.
Trump made the comments to Breitbart during an interview Thursday night that was published Friday.
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"When you compare him today to 15 or 20 years ago, he's a different kind of a guy," Trump told Breitbart. "The guy can't talk. The guy can't put two sentences together. So I do think this: I cannot believe he's going to be the nominee. I hope he is. But I can't believe he's going to be the nominee."
It's not the first time Trump has made the claim, saying it earlier this month at a town hall event in Davenport, Iowa.
"I personally don't think he makes it," Trump said then.
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Biden implied that he wouldn't be running if not for Trump.
"If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running," Biden said at a fundraiser earlier this month.
Trump's current assertion comes as he holds a 2.3-point edge over Biden in the RealClearPolitics poll average, 46.8% to 44.5%.
Further, Trump doesn't see Vice President Kamala Harris being the nominee either, opening things up for a "free-for-all" among Democrats. Other Republicans have also theorized that Democrats will usher out California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Michelle Obama at the 11th hour given Biden's decline and futile showing in the polls.
"There will be a point at which it's a free-for-all," Trump said.
Whether Biden is Trump's opponent or not in 2024, the former president said, "He's a cheater. He's a scoundrel. He's a bad guy. But in his life, he's always been able to convince people he's this really nice guy. I laugh when they say, 'Trump is the evil one, and he's the nice one.' That's the one thing he's been able to do."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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