‘Kingmaker of the Republican Party.' Tri-state Republicans weigh in on Trump's third campaign for presidency

News 12's Senior Investigative Reporter Tara Rosenblum caught up with Republicans across the tri-state who are ready to rally behind him once again.

News 12 Staff

Nov 16, 2022, 3:09 AM

Updated 699 days ago

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Former President Donald Trump has formally launched his third campaign for the White House.
News 12's Senior Investigative Reporter Tara Rosenblum caught up with Republicans across the tri-state who are ready to rally behind him once again.
The former president launched his long-rumored comeback campaign from his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. He is attempting to do what only one president has done before him - earn two non-consecutive terms.
Lynne Patton has been one of Trump's closest advisors for decades and will play a lead role in his newly launched campaign. It's a campaign that comes on the heels of disappointing mid-term results for several of Trump's preferred candidates.
"I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it. There are certainly races that we could have done better in. But it's funny because the mainstream media and Democrats considered 2018 a blue wave. But in fact, Republicans held the Senate at a much wider margin, 53-47 last week," says Patton. "Donald Trump won over 220 races. He lost about 16. And we're super proud about that. There's no question that Donald Trump remains the undisputed kingmaker of the Republican Party."
The question was also posed to former Trump campaign attorney, Richard St. Paul.
"I think we're looking at a former president who is running for president again," he says. "It's an easy, easier case to make for other Republicans that, you know, that he's just not electable... I want to see what other candidates are going to be in the field."
Native New Yorker and GOP strategist Jason Meister is "not" taking a wait-and-see approach, and has already signed on to Trump's campaign.
"I will work diligently to have him reelected as the 47th president of United States of America," says Meister. "I think his historic accomplishments in light of Joe Biden's disastrous presidency that only grows stronger each and every day.
Recent polling seemingly bolsters his claims. One shows six in 10 Republicans back Trump as their GOP standard-bearer, despite the several criminal and civil investigations he is fighting - including a trial underway against the Trump Organization in his native New York. The former president still owns several properties across Manhattan and Westchester County.