Matt Drudge Teases a Mystery 11th Hour Candidate in the GOP Primary: ‘Race About to Shake?’
AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr.
Matt Drudge’s eponymous Drudge Report blared an all-red headline on Thursday declaring the potential of a major shake-up in the 2024 GOP primary.
“DEVELOPING: REPUBLICAN RACE ABOUT TO SHAKE WITH LATE ENTRY?” read the headline.
The tantalizing bit of reporting from Drudge comes the morning after a widely panned, chaotic GOP debate — and on the heels of weeks of speculation that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) may still enter the race.
Drudge later updated the headline with a link to a tweet from CBS’s Robert Costa, which read, “Push for Youngkin 2024 now taking shape as donors and Rs grow alarmed. ‘Red Vest Retreat’ Oct. 17-18 in VA Beach… Billionaire backer Peterffy assures me ‘money would be there.’ Bill Barr telling him to put his ‘oar in.'”
The photo above the headline also changed from an obscure man in a suit to an image of the Virginia governor.
“Glenn Youngkin is not running for president. Or is he?” read a headline in the Financial Times this week. FT’s Lauren Fedor noted Youngkin’s repeated insistence that he is not running but added:
At the same time, however, the former Carlyle executive and his aides have also quietly left the door open to an eleventh-hour entrance into the 2024 Republican primary field. “The presidential pot is simmering, and he is happy to stir it,” said one former colleague from Carlyle, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Drudge’s scoop, which may very well not be about Youngkin, coincided with headlines on the top of his page taking aim at former President Donald Trump, including:
Deflated Don ‘slowly beginning to sink’ in rambling Detroit speech…
Did he pay actors? Confession of a sign holder…
Faked union workers!
All three headlines linked to British papers and made clear a disillusionment with Trump, with whom Drudge has tussled with in the past.
Other potential GOP late entries could include New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, or any of the high-profile Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
