'The More, The Merrier': Trump Boosted By Bloated 2024 Race

By Frankie Taggart

With three denizens of the Republican establishment launching presidential campaigns this week, the race for the 2024 nomination has begun to resemble the sprawling 2016 field that proved a huge boon to unfancied outsider Donald Trump.

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Trump revealed that he relishes the chaos of a crowded field when he welcomed his first serious opponent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, to the race in February, telling Fox News: "The more the merrier."

But John Ellis, a former head of the network's Election Night Decision Desk, told AFP Christie's candidacy could put Trump on the back foot.

"Because he will attack Trump relentlessly, Christie's campaign will get a ton of coverage in the mainstream press, which may help him do well in New Hampshire," said Ellis, founder of the News Items current affairs newsletter.

"Favorable press coverage catapulted John McCain's presidential campaign in New Hampshire in 2000. Christie is making the same bet. Regardless, having someone hammering you every day is never helpful to the frontrunner."