Former United States president Donald Trump is still the likely Republican nominee to run for the White House in 2024, despite his no-show – again – at the party’s second primary debate, observers told CNA on Friday (Sep 29).
This is also in spite of his Republican rivals performing better than they did at the first debate last month, they added.
“The issue is that relatively, even if they had an okay night, they didn’t break out from the pack and they didn’t provide an overwhelming reason to reject Donald Trump among Republicans,” said campaign and public affairs consultant Craig Varoga, a fellow at the American University’s Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies.
Most polls are showing that Mr Trump is still holding a steady lead, and none of his other opponents have seen a breakthrough, said Dr Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo.
“It’s not even close at this point,” he told CNA’s World Tonight.
“I didn’t see anything that’s fundamentally going to change the nature of this race, which is everyone’s really looking to play for second best.”
Source: CNA
