(NewsNation) — With 720 days to go before the 2024 election, 76-year-old former President Donald Trump announced he’s running for the nation’s highest office for a third consecutive time.
Some, like former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, suspect Trump made the early announcement to cut into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s momentum. Recent surveys suggest Republicans may be ready to move on from the former president in favor of the Sunshine State governor after his strong performance in last week’s midterms.
Trump’s decision immediately drew criticism, and somewhat subdued praise, from media across the political spectrum.
Some of the harshest rebukes came from right-leaning publications. National Review, a conservative magazine, responded to Trump’s third presidential bid with a straightforward headline: “No.”
Longtime Republican strategist and a former Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush administration, Karl Rove, said Trump’s speech sounded “robotic and flat,” like a “male version of Siri.”
In a story titled, “Been there, Don that,” the New York Post relegated the news to the 26th page of its print edition Wednesday.
Still others warned that the former president should not be underestimated and pointed to his strong popularity among the GOP base.
This is how media across the political spectrum reacted to the announcement.
on the left
Multiple media outlets that lean left — as defined by NewsNation’s partner Ground News — wrote scathing critiques of Trump’s announcement. The Huffington Post noted the unprecedented nature of the decision, given that the former president currently faces “multiple criminal investigations” and “attempted a coup.”
The Daily Beast said Trump’s speech contained “his usual lies, self-congratulations, and bombast.”
Others made note of the former president’s unstable political position, given that many of his chosen candidates lost their midterm races just one week earlier. Mother Jones suggested Trump will be “playing defense” against “an ascendant Ron DeSantis.”
Here’s what left-leaning outlets had to say:
The Huffington Post: “Trump Running For President Again In 2024 Despite Criminal Probes Into Coup Attempt”
In a 64-minute meandering speech reminiscent of his dark 2017 inaugural address, Trump claimed that the United States under his successor had become a crime-ridden hellscape that only he could restore to the greatness he had achieved during his presidency.
S.V. Date, The Huffington Post
Mother Jones: “A loser runs again”
After months of teasing and tortured predictions over when Trump would finally release the American public from this unique purgatory, the defeated president’s announcement couldn’t have landed at a more precarious moment for him.
Inae OH, Mother Jones
The Daily Beast: “Donald Trump Declares 2024 Candidacy With 2020 Speech”
By the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, he showed little interest in the duties of the White House. Not even two years out of office, he can’t wait to get back.
ZAchary petrizzo, the daily beast
on the right
Media outlets that lean right — as defined by NewsNation’s partner Ground News — had mixed reactions to Trump’s third presidential bid. The NY Post trolled the former president in its print version Wednesday, writing on the front page: “Florida man makes announcement, Page 26.”
Other conservative outlets were more direct in their criticism of Trump’s second term aspirations. National Review, an editorial magazine that has never endorsed Trump, lambasted the decision and said it would “ensure a tumultuous road for the Republican party leading up to the 2024 nomination.”
Brietbart mostly focused on the content of Trump’s speech, highlighting the policy victories the former president claimed on Tuesday.
The Federalist touted Trump’s consistent popularity among Republican voters, while acknowledging that the conservative establishment seems to have shifted toward DeSantis.
Here’s what right-leaning outlets had to say:
National Review: “No”
A bruised Donald Trump announced a new presidential bid on Tuesday night, an invitation to double down on the outrages and failures of the last several years that Republicans should reject without hesitation or doubt.
the editors, national review
Breitbart: “Donald Trump Announces 2024 Run for President: ‘America’s Comeback Starts Right Now”
The former president made his announcement at his club at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, taking the stage with former first lady Melania Trump as the Lee Greenwood anthem “God Bless the U.S.A.” played.
charlie spiering, breitbart
The Federalist: “Donald Trump Is Running For President Again. Washington Would Be Wise To Remember 2016”
The lesson from 2016 is that Trump is not to be underestimated, no matter how dire his chances of claiming the presidency seem among the Washington establishment and particularly the Republican elite. Trump remains a dominant figure in the party, with a core of supporters who will be hard to turn away from someone they see as a crusader for the common people despite every force against him.
tristan justice, the federalist