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Former president Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race Tuesday night, causing concern among USC students interviewed by Annenberg Media.
“Immediately, it is upsetting, based on how his presidency went last time around,” Emma Perez, a sophomore studying public relations, said. “I’m not super stoked about the idea of him running again. … I hoped he would just stop.”
In his speech at Mar-a-Lago, Trump favorably recounted his term as president, during which he claimed to have prepared America for its “golden age.”
“[Two years ago], our nation was at the pinnacle of power, prosperity and prestige,” Trump said to a crowd of his supporters. “Everybody was thriving like never before. There was never a time like this.”
Some USC students, however, remembered Trump’s term as president much differently, specifically the state that Trump left the country in. Freshman Ian Keim recalled with horror the January 6 riot at Capitol Hill among Trump followers seeking to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
“That was pretty horrible and left a really bad taste for a lot of people in this country’s mouth,” Keim said. “It’ll be really interesting to see if people are willing to get over that and how much that affected his popularity for people.”
Trump attacked current President Joe Biden often in his speech, calling him the “face of left-wing failure and Washington corruption.”
“For millions of Americans, the past two years under Joe Biden have been a time of pain, anxiety and despair,” Trump said. “Under Biden and the radical Democrats, America has been mocked, derided and brought to its knees like never before.”
Despite their reservations on Trump’s impending run for president, students were not surprised by the announcement.
“I was expecting Donald Trump to keep going until he kicked the bucket, so to speak,” said Marjan Alagheband, a freshman communication major. “Just with the political divide today and people’s anger, I think there are chances he could win.”
For some students like Alagheband, the thought that Trump could generate support from that anger is more than a little unsettling.
“It’s a little terrifying, to be honest,” Alagheband said. “I feel like all the people who were really upset with him losing the election, the people who raided the Capitol, of course, and the people surrounding that group of people, are going to be really upset. They’re going to come back with that same energy.”
However, several students had doubts about Trump’s chances in the race.
“I know both political parties are very polarized, and the right, they have got the radical side, but I don’t think that’s enough to actually get him back in the office,” Perez said. “I feel like people are just so done with Trump, I just can’t imagine that Trump would win again.”
Before Trump takes on the general election, he will first have to make it out of the Republican primaries, where he faces a potential challenge from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who recently won big in his midterm re-election campaign.