Which Republicans will back Trump if he runs in 2024?

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published 28 September 2022

Speculation about who will be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is at an all-time high as former President Donald Trump continues to tease an attempt for a second term. True enough, Trump appears to have many allies within the GOP who are prepared to support him if he's on the ticket. Still others, though, seem either uncertain or decidedly against him as a candidate. Mounting legal concerns — including the Jan. 6 Capitol attack investigation — have plagued Trump since he left office, and seemingly caused him to slip in the polls.

Here is where prominent Republican lawmakers stand on whether or not they support Trump as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election:

Rep. Liz Cheney has been one of the most vocal Republican critics of former President Trump, particularly over his promotion of voter fraud conspiracies. CNN reports that Cheney went as far as to say that she would leave the GOP if Trump is selected as the Republican Party's nominee for the 2024 presential election. "I'm going to make sure Donald Trump — I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he is not the nominee. And if he is the nominee, I won't be a Republican," Cheney said at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday.

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Despite not voting in favor of impeaching the former president, she has advised other Republicans to look for substance in potential presidential candidates, hinting at her willingness to consider other potential nominees besides Trump, per The Washington Post. "I'm very much hopeful, and I think you'll see this on both sides of the aisle, [for] a deep bench of Republicans and Democrats who will be running for president in '24. I hope that's what happens," she told Meet the Press.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the chair of the Republican Study Committee, claims he will back Trump as soon as the former president announces plans to run. Banks also believes an early Trump announcement could help draw more supporters to the polls this fall. "If President Trump runs, he has my support," said Banks when interviewed by Politico. Banks added, "He's more popular than he's ever been before."

Trump once called DeSantis his "great friend," but their relationship appears to be on the rocks as DeSantis is increasingly heralded as a potential rival in the 2024 primary. Sources close to the former president said the two haven't spoken since early summer, The Washington Post reports. Trump has yet to endorse DeSantis in his November re-election race, despite doing so in 2018; DeSantis likewise hasn't asked Trump for an endorsement and according to Politico, doesn't plan to do so.

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Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.