Steve Laffey, the former mayor of Cranston, has withdrawn from consideration for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Laffey speaks candidly with ABC News about his disappointment after launching his campaign in February.
“I love being on the trail. I love meeting people,” he said. “I am crestfallen that I wasn’t able to cross the chasm.”
Laffey’s excitement on the campaign road did not convert into a prominent presence in national surveys. His lack of name recognition was to blame for his inability to qualify for the debate stage.
Aside from financial restraints, Laffey has expressed deep dissatisfaction with the Republican Party’s current course. “I don’t know how to tell folks with a straight face, ‘It’s now October — how do I take off and take New Hampshire and keep going?’”
“But at the same time, I’m telling people the GOP is dead,” he remarked.
Follow Laffey, the former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, on his political journey! Discover his bid for higher office as he ran for President of the United States. Senator in the Republican primary in Rhode Island. Discover how this hotly contested race captivated the nation’s attention, with major consequences for Senate control.
In the future, Laffey has declared his intention to register as an independent, separating himself from the party he formerly supported. “I am really really upset about certain things with my party. I will be leaving the party,” he stated.
In an interview with ABC News, Laffey brazenly asserts that the Republican Party has little to no prospects, except for his own ambitious campaign. He blames former President Donald Trump for the party’s current predicament and believes Trump should be held accountable by the law. Trump’s authoritarian presence, according to Laffey, is simply getting stronger.
Despite repeated indictments, Trump’s ongoing power in the Republican Party remains. He is currently the Republican Party’s top option to fight Biden. According to Laffey, Republican Party officials such as Matt Gaetz attribute their ascent directly to Trump’s influence. After former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed from his position, Laffey’s hope for the party’s future faded.
REVEALED: The 3 reasons you should NEVER use Vegetable Oils…
According to his FEC filing, Laffey’s campaign ran into financial difficulties. Despite raising only $18,589.04, he ended up with $106,484.95 in cash by the end of the second quarter. Laffey hopes to use the remaining monies for donations once he has paid off his campaign debts.
“There’s worse things than watching ‘Hawaii Five-0,’ the original one, on a Friday night eating some Breyers ice cream,” Laffey joked. “You haven’t heard the last from me. It just won’t be, at least for now, as a Republican candidate for president, and it won’t be as a Republican.”
Laffey aspires to take a month off to travel with his family in the future. He did, however, imply that this is not the last time the public will hear from him. “You haven’t heard the last from me. It just won’t be, at least for now, as a Republican candidate for president, and it won’t be as a Republican,” he concluded.
