The Atlantic

Republicans Don't Want a Primary Challenge to Trump

Contrary to the longings of NeverTrumpers, there’s no groundswell of support among the GOP rank and file for a challenger to the president.
Source: Aaron Bernstein / Reuters

Last Friday in New Hampshire, Jeff Flake—the outgoing Republican senator from Arizona who has denounced President Donald Trump as a threat to American democracy—got a standing ovation in Manchester, New Hampshire. John Kasich, another potential challenger to Trump in the 2020 GOP primary, will visit the Granite State next month. “The unusual flurry of activity,” noted The Washington Post, “is stoking speculation about whether a sitting president could face a serious challenge from within his own party for the first time in a quarter-century.”

The focus on New Hampshire makes sense. It was in New Hampshire that Eugene McCarthy won in the state. So is South Carolina, which in recent cycles has directly followed New Hampshire, and where Kasich came in .

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