Conservative groups look beyond Trump for 2024 GOP nominee

Former President Donald Trump speaks into a microphone at a campaign event.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina Statehouse, Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Two major conservative groups have signaled they are open to supporting someone other than Donald Trump in the 2024 race for the White House, the latest sign from an increasingly vocal segment of the Republican Party that it’s time to move on from the former president.

David McIntosh, the president of the influential Club For Growth group, said Tuesday that the group has invited a half dozen potential Republican candidates to its donor summit in Florida next month, but Trump — the only declared major candidate in the race so far — is not among them.

Instead, the group has invited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is viewed as Trump’s most formidable likely challenger, along with Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador; former Vice President Mike Pence; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina; and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.