In Trump’s Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP

Washington Examiner correspondent Drucker debuts with an extensively reported yet uneven look at seven politicians, including Donald Trump, who may seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024. In addition to Trump, Drucker focuses on senators Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio; former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley; former vice president Mike Pence; and former CIA director and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Interviews with the primary subjects and Republican Party insiders shed light on how potential candidates struggle with staying on Trump’s good side while creating some distance from him in areas deemed potentially toxic, and document the steady softening of Republican outrage over the January 6 Capitol riot. (Haley, who initially denounced Trump for inciting the riot, later said that she wouldn’t run against him if he decided to enter the 2024 race.) Though Drucker’s selection seems on-target, it’s almost sure to be superseded by future developments (governors Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, who have recently emerged as likely candidates, barely get mentioned), and snarky turns-of-phrase distract (Ted Cruz’s “white, Irish Catholic mother from Wilmington, Delaware“ is “part of the Joe Biden diaspora,” Drucker suggests). This first draft of history disappoints. (Oct.)