Ana Navarro, a co-host of ABC’s “The View” and a leading critic of former President Trump, is cautioning against writing him off as he again seeks the Republican nomination for president.
“I’ve seen this movie before,” Navarro said on the daytime talk show on Wednesday. “Rupert Murdoch doesn’t matter. GOP donors don’t matter. What matters are GOP base voters who voted for Trump before. I made the mistake before; many other Republicans made the mistake in 2016 of not taking Trump seriously. I’m not making the same mistake twice.”
Trump announced on Tuesday evening he is running for president in 2024, tearing into President Biden’s administration and arguing he could put the country in a better place with a second term in office.
Trump’s announcement was met with repudiation from many of his critics, including some in the conservative media ecosystem, with the editorial board of the National Review responding with a piece simply titled “No.”
The former president’s declaration comes a week after the midterm elections, during which a number of candidates he backed either lost or underperformed, leading some Republicans to argue the party needs new leadership.
“Don’t get numb to it, don’t laugh about it, don’t get tired of it,” Navarro, a former Republican operative turned cable news pundit, said. “We beat him once, and we can beat him twice if we have to.”