There’s an adage that in order to be the king, you have to beat the king.
Donald Trump’s political rivals are taking that to heart as they plot their strategy for trying to capture the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, devising ways to try to force a divorce between Mr. Trump and his adoring primary voters.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently took a whack at Mr. Trump in New Hampshire — the same state that gave Mr. Trump his first victory in the 2016 primary, setting him on his path to victory.
“Donald Trump is a TV star. Nothing more, nothing less,” Mr. Christie said at a town hall at New England College. “He failed us as a president on the promises that he made to us. And let me suggest to you that if we put it back to the White House, the reruns will be worse than the original show.”
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican who hasn’t ruled out a run for president next year, also puts it bluntly: “Donald Trump is a loser.”
“He has not just lost once. He lost us in our House seats in 2018. He lost everything in ‘20,” Mr. Sununu said last weekend on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We should have 54 U.S. senators right now and we don’t because of his message.”
The former president traveled to Manchester, New Hampshire, on Thursday for a campaign event and highlighted for reporters a new Emerson College poll that showed him ahead of his nearest GOP rival by 46 percentage points.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung shrugged off the attacks from Mr. Sunnu and others.
“President Trump is crushing Sununu in his home state by over 36 points and looks forward to his trip to Manchester … where he will be greeted by thousands of MAGA patriots and supporters,” Mr. Cheung said.
Mr. Trump snuck up on the party in many ways in 2016, when his rivals — and much of the media — treated his campaign as a sideshow, until suddenly he was winning primaries and then claiming the nomination.
Gaffes that would have drummed other candidates out of the race seemed only to embolden Mr. Trump, and cemented his bond with voters who saw him and the chaos surrounding him as the antidote to Washington.
“Everybody thought he would put his foot in his mouth and self-destruct and that didn’t happen,” said William Palatucci, a member of the Republican National Committee from New Jersey and a Christie ally. “And it is unlikely to happen this time unless other candidates confront him — both in terms of his antics and policy failures from the first term.”
Mr. Trump won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time around.
His four years as president and his continued presence on the political stage have left him the undisputed king of GOP politics. Polling regularly puts him at around 50% support among Republican primary voters.
That means that before they can battle among themselves, his rivals must topple Mr. Trump.
“2016 was a debacle for the field of non-Trump candidates because they never understood his appeal, never landed a punch on him that mattered to primary voters, and refused to get out of the race in time to take him one-on-one,” said Kevin Sheridan, a GOP strategist.
The years since 2016 have given Mr. Trump a record to run on, but also a history of electoral losses that his opponents can shoot at. The events of Jan. 6, 2021, and mounting legal woes have also become ammunition for some rivals.
Mr. Sununu has been particularly pointed, saying Mr. Trump would be “a four-time loser in 2024.”
“We need candidates that can win,” Mr. Sununu said.
Early polls suggest that Mr. Trump is already pulling away from the announced candidates in the field, despite the attacks. At a GOP dinner in Florida last week, Mr. Trump cited favorable surveys including one by Clarity Campaign that had him leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 45 percentage points. Mr. DeSantis has not yet announced his candidacy.
“The polls show clearly that the people are with us in this fight,” Mr. Trump said. “In last week’s Morning Consult poll, I led the field by 33 points.”
Other Republicans have tried trying to thread the needle between dinging Mr. Trump without angering his loyal base of support. It is a delicate balancing act for Republicans.
“I am in this race to take the America First agenda further than Donald Trump ever did, because I will do it based on first principles and moral authority — not based on vengeance and grievance,” Vivek Ramaswamy, another GOP candidate, and multimillionaire entrepreneur, said during a recent swing through Iowa.
Candidates are also trying to calibrate their attacks to the party’s mood, with some like Mr. Christie deciding to go after Mr. Trump completely and others jabbing at particular Trump pronouncements.
At his campaign launch Wednesday, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson took a thinly veiled shot at Mr. Trump for calling on Republicans in Congress to “defund” the FBI, saying there “are a few misguided leaders who say we should defund the FBI.”
“We should not defund the FBI, but we do need serious reform to refocus the core functions of our federal law enforcement,” he said.
Mr. Sheridan said he expects rivals’ focus on Mr. Trump to sharpen.
“When we start hearing the candidates say loudly and clearly Trump gave us [Dr. Anthony] Fauci you’ll know it’s really on,” Mr. Sheridan said, referring to the former federal health official and pandemic adviser loathed by conservatives.
Mr. Palutucci said the 2024 nomination race already has a “very different” feel to it.
“The candidates already in the race and those making noise about getting in are criticizing the former president in some shape or form,” he said. “A few still won’t name him directly, but everybody knows who they are talking about.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.