‘Low energy,’ ‘bruised’ Trump 2024 announcement gets panned on Twitter
Former President Donald Trump’s long-anticipated launch of his 2024 White House campaign drew strong reactions Tuesday, with conservatives and liberals alike expressing dismay.
“Donald Trump failed America,” read a message posted from President Biden’s personal account during the 76-year-old Trump’s Mar-a-Lago address.
The 79-year-old president’s tweet included a video blasting his predecessor’s record on the economy, health care and women’s rights — and also accusing Trump of “coddling extremists” and “inciting a violent mob” on Jan. 6, 2021.
The president himself was attending a mangrove tree-planting ceremony as part of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, when a reporter asked if he had any reaction to Trump throwing his hat in the ring.
“Not really,” Biden responded before turning back to the mangroves.
The conservative publication National Review, which opposed Trump during the 2016 GOP primary, quickly posted an editorial headlined simply “No” and leading with an eye-catching quote purportedly by one of the most famous French Enlightenment philosophers.
“To paraphrase Voltaire after he attended an orgy, once was an experiment, twice would be perverse,” began the piece, which went on to describe the former president as “bruised” by recent election defeats, as well as “monumentally selfish [and] morally and electorally compromised.”
“Trump’s announcement tonight is just the kickoff of what will be a messy Republican primary with candidates competing to be the most extreme MAGA Republican in the race. The DNC will be ready for them all,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said on Twitter following Trump’s announcement.
David Axelrod, director of the University of Chicago School of Institute of Politics and former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager and top adviser, called the speech “low energy” aside from Trump’s shots at his successor.
“Like he’s going through the motions. The only enthusiasm he’s shown is for a nasty asides about Biden’s acuity,” Axelrod said.
The Democratic strategist also observed what he believed was a jab at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom Trump has repeatedly attacked since last week’s midterms — though he did not mention his would-be rival by name Tuesday.
“‘Not a task for a conventional politician. This is a task for a movement.’ Talking about YOU, [DeSantis]!” Axelrod said.
Axelrod’s “low energy” comment was echoed by Jeb Bush Jr., the son of the former Florida governor and Trump’s vanquished 2016 rival.
“WOW! What a low energy speech by the Donald. Time for new leaders!” Jeb Jr. tweeted, adding the hashtags “WEAK” and “SleepyDonnie.”
“Even as a detractor I had to admit that one thing Trump had going for him was he spoke but you never really saw a 70-something year old man,” judged RealClearPolitics election analyst Sean Trende. “Tonight he really looked like a 70-something year old man.”
However, the reviews were not universally negative.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a Trump ally, said the former president will be “hard to beat” if he runs on the remarks he delivered Tuesday night.
“If President Trump continues this tone and delivers this message on a consistent basis, he will be hard to beat. His speech tonight, contrasting his policies and results against the Biden Administration, charts a winning path for him in the primaries and general election,” Graham said on Twitter.
“As we listen to President Trump remind us of what is possible regarding our borders, economy, and national security, it is my hope that he will continue to focus on the solutions that he offered tonight to restore a broken America,” he added.
Trump spoke for more than an hour at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Palm Beach, Fla. He was joined by his wife Melania, son-in-law and former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and sons Eric and Barron.
