As the term of the current United States President Joe Biden is coming to an end, the race for the 2024 presidential election has been intensifying with the recent first Republican Party debate, as well as Former President Donald Trump’s indictments. With eight Republican candidates, only three Democratic candidates, and high possibilities of both Trump and Biden re-running, there has been curiosity about who is ahead of the race so far.
In the first debate, the candidates covered several topics, including their stances on banning abortion and increasing aid to Ukraine. However, there was one particular issue that stuck out to Ackim Mpofu, a History and Social Science teacher at Lake Forest Academy. When asked in an interview about his thoughts on the 2024 Republican presidential debate, Mpofu elaborated on the topic of eliminating the Department of Education. As a teacher, Mpofu understands how the issue can be detrimental to other teachers and students as he stated, “I start to think about students with disabilities and accommodations, especially in public schools that need government money.” With other issues that were discussed, another point made in the debate was the lack of the Republican candidate that is currently dominating the polls. While seven Republican candidates attended the debate to discuss the current revolving issues, the eighth candidate, Trump, decided to have a night off and post his interview with Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on X.
After being fired by Fox News due to the discovery of Carlson’s pro-violent and racist text messages, Tucker Carlson Tonight was canceled by the network and moved to X where his interview with Trump was released five minutes before the debate. When asked if there was a deeper reason behind Trump’s unique decision, Mpofu stated, “After Carlson’s termination of employment, many people followed him and his show.” He further elaborated that Trump taking his own route was better than attending the debate, as it allowed him to clean his image and have space to converse with someone who supports, rather than attack his ideas. Although the interview is professional, it is also a personal, one-on-one conversation. With this, Trump’s decision was a politically smart move.
Even with his indictments, it is believed that Trump has a chance of running for president again for the upcoming election by looking at his strategic actions and dominating polls; however, nothing is for sure. As the election further unfolds, we cannot accurately predict anything for now. Since Trump’s cases are still being handled, it is unknown whether he can even continue running in the race. Mpofu expresses his uncertainty by stating, “The polls say Trump, but they haven’t been as reliable as they used to be. Where we are at with the Republican Party as of now, a lot of things are simply not predictable.”
