GARY COSBY JR.: There is a narrow path to the presidency for Trump in 2024

Donald Trump could again win the presidency. At this point, it is unlikely, but with President Joe Biden’s approval rating plummeting, the door could be opening a crack for a Trump return.

Trump faces many challenges and he must do some very un-Trumplike things for there to be a chance of this happening. If the Congress gains access to the records of the Jan. 6 riot, a riot Trump fomented and is desperately trying to cover his involvement in, he might well be so badly exposed there would be no chance of him winning any future public office.

Leaving that aside for now, there is a path to victory for Trump in 2024. The key to Trump’s resurgence is very simple. Joe Biden. The current president is not exactly stunning America with his visionary leadership, and the vision he is promoting caters far too much to the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party.

Given the first election results since he took office, the country appears to be shunning the more radical policies he is forwarding and Democratic candidates are faltering, having nothing to which they can hitch their wagons.

Essentially, Biden could get Trump elected by performing so badly that the country would turn back to him out of desperation. That is a very dangerous possibility. There has not been a president in this century or the last and, maybe not ever, who did so much to damage the American democracy as Trump. If ever a president could be said to be a clear and present danger to America, it is he.

However, if Biden continues to push for hard left policies, he will find himself holding a very empty bag come midterm elections next year. If the Democrats lose big, and it is likely the Senate will come back to full Republican control, it will build momentum for the conservative party.

If conservative gains are dramatic enough, the shift away from Biden will naturally be a shift toward Trump since he is currently the only Republican in the race. This could provide enough momentum to empower his campaign to regain the White House. As remarkable as it seems, Biden could get Trump elected.

It would almost be returning the favor because it was Trump’s incompetence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and his attempts to subvert the electoral process that essentially got a very weak Democrat in the person of Biden elected to begin with. If you look at Biden in the cold light of reason, there is nothing compelling about the man that would have caused America to turn out in record numbers to vote for him, except for the desire to be rid of Trump.

While a Trump victory in 2024 is not likely, it is possible. His primary weakness is all the fodder he has provided for Democrats to use against him. I can’t see how he can overcome his own record and his own words. Just the Jan. 6 fiasco alone should be enough to sink him in the next presidential election.

But there is a roadmap to victory for Trump in 2024. It’s really not that difficult to see. With Biden opening the door for him, all Trump really needs to do is follow a very simple plan.

First, and this is critical, he must admit defeat in the 2020 election and stop putting forward the thoroughly disproven lie that he somehow won the election but was cheated out of it.

Second, and if the first one would be difficult for him, this will be worse, he needs to apologize to America for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot or insurrection or whatever you wish to call it. That event is his Achilles heel. If he denounces those who invaded the Capitol building that day and distances himself from the radical elements within the party that he inspired, he can begin to look reasonable to middle America.

Third, and this could prove impossible for him, he must communicate in a presidential manner. Using social media, even a platform of his own creation, is a horrible idea. It gives his opponents far too much unfiltered information with which to combat him. He must learn to communicate through official channels with real professionals vetting what he puts out to the public. We all know who he is by now, but if he can moderate himself and appear reasonable, that will go a long way toward getting him back in the White House.

If those things were to happen and he was able to convince enough of those critical swing voters that he is not the same guy he was in 2020, he could brush Biden aside like yesterday’s news. It all depends on how well or how poorly Biden performs in the next couple of years and if any decent Republican will rise to challenge Trump in the primaries.

Gary Cosby Jr. is photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: GARY COSBY JR.: There is a narrow path to 2024 presidency for Trump