Trump's 2024 run leads to soul-searching from past supporters in Minnesota

ELK RIVER, MINN. - Nadine Ricke isn't sure who she will support for president in 2024, but the 64-year-old Republican knows it won't be Donald Trump.

"He's kind of gone off the rails," Ricke said while bagging pastries for customers at the Blue Egg Bakery on Main Street. Once a Trump supporter, Ricke said she soured on the former president "when he didn't want to give up the White House."

At Daddy-O's Cafe next door, owner Jeff Krueger said he would love to see Trump become the nominee again — but he doesn't know if he can win. Krueger, 67, raised concern about some of Trump's rhetoric, including his recent suggestion that the Constitution should be suspended to put him back in office.

"You can't go against the Constitution," said Krueger, who was among the nearly two-thirds of Sherburne County voters who picked Trump over President Biden in 2020. "The thing about Trump is just his personality turns off people. Some of his policies, I found, were very good."

Trump's November announcement that he will again run for the White House has been met with little fanfare in Minnesota, where Republicans who've suffered a long string of disappointing election outcomes are reflecting on whether new leadership is needed. The political soul-searching comes after Republicans underperformed nationally in a favorable midterm election environment, failing to flip the U.S. Senate and only narrowly winning back control of the House.

Those struggles were also felt down the ballot in Minnesota. Republicans once again didn't win a single statewide office, lost control of the state Senate and stayed in the minority in the state House.

Minnesota has been a difficult state at times for Trump. He finished third in the state's 2016 presidential caucuses on his way to capturing the GOP nomination, but came close to winning Minnesota in the general election when he lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 1.5 percentage points. The Republican's interest in the state during the 2020 cycle failed to pay off: He lost to Biden by 7.1 percentage points.

In what appeared to be a bid to maintain influence here, Trump endorsed Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen and Republican secretary of state nominee Kim Crockett in October, only to see both lose soundly in the midterms.

Jensen said in an interview that he would like to see a new GOP nominee in 2024, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. While on the campaign trail, he said, he heard many Republican voters express mixed feelings about Trump.

"I think there was a strong, shared conviction that he had been a strong leader, and people appreciated that," Jensen said. "But I think there was also a sense that there are trappings that come with President Trump that would make it very difficult for him to win in '24."

Trump has continued to push his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, even after it inspired a mob of his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He recently wrote in a Truth Social post, "do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?" Trump went on to say, with no evidence, that "a massive fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution."

Trump's decision to try and fling himself back into the center of American politics with another White House run has given Minnesota Democrats a potent line of criticism as Republican elected officials in the state either dodge or deflect when it comes to the twice-impeached former president.

"Donald Trump is a disaster," Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said last month. "He tried to overthrow our democracy and he incited people to attack the Capitol. And it's up to the Republican Party to completely repudiate him."

Responding to Trump's recent Constitution comment, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar said, "It is time for [Republicans] to develop a backbone and stand up to him and to stand up for our country."

Trump hasn't been publicly endorsed by any of Minnesota's four U.S. House Republicans since he announced his 2024 run. Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber said shortly after Trump entered the race that "the Republican policies that he brought forward to the American people benefited America."

"There's a nomination process," Stauber added. "I look forward to a robust and interesting process as we go forward."

Minnesota's leading Republican, incoming U.S. House majority whip Tom Emmer, said in a statement last month that he "was proud to serve as President Trump's 2016 campaign chair in Minnesota and supported his agenda throughout his time in office."

"We have a big job ahead of us and remain focused on delivering for the American people in our new Republican majority," Emmer said.

Neither would comment further when their spokespeople were contacted recently.

Minnesota Republican state House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth declined to comment on Trump's 2024 bid through a spokesman. A spokeswoman for GOP state Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.

Even former Minnesota GOP chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, who was one of Trump's major boosters in the state, did not explicitly endorse his 2024 candidacy, though she praised his leadership and accomplishments.

"No matter who the Republican nominee may be; Republicans must coalesce immediately, work as one team, meet the voters where they are and share a vision and plan that inspires voters to turn out with enthusiasm," Carnahan said in a text message. "If the party can't figure that out, then the road to the White House will be difficult."

Back in Elk River, 78-year-old Fred McCoy mused about the next presidential election during a quiet lunch hour at his McCoy's Irish Pub. McCoy, a Democrat, said he hopes neither Trump nor Biden are on the ballot in 2024, calling for new leaders to step forward.

If Republicans nominate Trump again, McCoy said, "they deserve what they get." He pointed to some Trump-aligned candidates who fared badly in November's midterm.

Around the corner at Olde Main Eatery, co-owner Tammy Alickson said she's worried Trump will "shoot Republicans in the foot" by running again. Alickson previously backed Trump, saying she "liked his politics but hates his banter." She wants to see a new face lead the GOP, such as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem or DeSantis.

"They both have integrity. That's what you're looking for," said Alickson, 51, as she prepared a fresh pot of coffee for patrons.

Trump, she said, "needs to just bow out."