KEVIN TRACY: I have some brief remarks and then I'll take questions.

In 2015, the KTracy.com Staff and I made the decision to endorse Florida Senator Marco Rubio the day he announced his candidacy. Rubio offered an inclusive, exciting, and young vision for an often exclusive, stale, and old Republican Party. Donald Trump of course won the nomination and ultimately the Presidency, but while he wasn't stale, he was excessively exclusive and old.

While I voted for Trump in 2020 and approved of his performance as the chief of the executive branch of government, I would greatly prefer Trump not be our Republican candidate in 2024. While I love many (not all) of Trump's policies; he generates so many problems with his self-contentedness, ego, and lack of common decency that he has completely derailed the very agenda of the conservative movement and made the Republican Party a cult of personality.

Inflation is through the roof, crime is out of control in liberal cities, we're sending aid to Ukraine so slowly that it's just prolonging their war with Russia instead of winning it, China is actively stepping up its data collection and censorship efforts internationally, and the Republican Party's big talking point right now is that Donald Trump isn't being treated fairly by the DOJ or the courts.

I'm not a conservative because I enjoy sucking conservative judges from Donald Trump's asshole. I'm a Republican because I believe in traditional religious values (including the dignity of human life), support and prioritize local government above federal government, promote fiscal responsibility, defend the second amendment, think smaller government is better government, and want to see conservative judges nominated to the US District, Appellate, and Supreme Courts. Absolutely nowhere on the list of my motivations for being a conservative is a fandom for or obsession with Donald Trump.

It's ironic that the President who has done the most for the cause of conservatism since Ronald Reagan would also do the most damage to conservatism by making conservatives care more about him than the issues. If Donald Trump wins the GOP nomination, KTracy.com will support him. However, it is our preference that just about anyone else (aside from Rand Paul, Mitt Romney, or Lindsey Graham) win the nomination.

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Ron DesSantis, Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and Kristi Noem (if she survives the ethics investigation into her) would all make phenomenal candidates. Truthfully, I hope that only one or two of those names run and the others throw their support behind the non-Trump candidate. I'm incredibly concerned that the 2024 Republican Primary is going to resemble the disastrous 2012 GOP Primary where a trio of candidates (Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry) split the conservative vote, leaving Mitt Romney to win the nomination. At the time, I called Rick Perry the greatest patriot of the trio because he bowed out relatively early, increasing the chances of Santorum or Gingrich of winning. Unfortunately, Gingrich was an awful campaigner but a remarkable debater. Right when Santorum would be about to take the lead, Gingrich would have a stellar debate performance and undermine Santorum's growth. Gingrich finally conceded the race a day or two after Santorum did, guaranteeing the nomination of Mitt Romney and seriously eroding the respect I once had for the former Speaker of the House.

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Kristi Noem are part of a new, more ideological generation of politicians. I'm seriously skeptical that Ted Cruz or Ron DeSantis would concede in order to better support the conservative movement. However, I'm hopeful that the others would put the greater good first. Hopefully one will emerge from the pack to seriously challenge Trump and the Republican Party will rally behind them without having to survive a demolition derby like 2007/2008 first.

If that candidate emerges, KTracy.com will rally behind them. Shy of that, we're not getting involved too heavily and we're not going to be ruling out the possibility of voting for any Republican candidate.

With that, I'll take a few questions.

QUESTION: So there are no candidates you wouldn't vote for in November 2024?

KEVIN TRACY: I find it really hard to imagine myself voting for Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney. However, given their polarizing stand on Donald Trump, it's difficult to see how they could win the nomination, let alone have any chance at all of the General Election in 2024. The cult of Donald Trump would have to completely implode in the next two years for that to happen, and I don't think that's about to happen. An enormous chunk of the Republican Party has submitted to the cult-attitude and is now believing in ridiculous conspiracy theories, so as long as Donald Trump lives and is not President for a second term, there will be people who will never give up on him.

QUESTION: How do you feel about Representative Cheney and Senator Romney's stand against Trump?

KEVIN TRACY: I think their stands were taken for different reasons and that's how I judge them. I feel as though Liz Cheney's opposition to Trump was largely a response to Trump's attack on her father, former Vice-President Dick Cheney and former-Presidents Bush and Bush. The Liz Cheney thing just felt personal, and the longer it goes on, the more personal the feud between Trump and Cheney feels. I'm not defending Trump when I say this about Cheney. They're both guilty of letting their personal feud interfere with politics, but Liz Cheney should have known better than fighting this fight.

Mitt Romney, who I personally detest, I'm actually more sympathetic towards on this. In fact, his vote to impeach Trump seemed rooted in principle; which I did and still do respect. While Trump has attacked Mitt Romney personally, Mitt Romney has avoided letting it become a personal feud like Liz Cheney. That's probably the best way to deal with Trump and, being the political monster that he is, I'm confident Mitt Romney knows that. The best way to insult Donald Trump is to ignore him.

QUESTION: So to be clear, will you vote for Donald Trump if he wins the 2024 nomination?

KEVIN TRACY: Yes, but I won't be smiling about it.

QUESTION: Is there anything President Joe Biden can do to earn your vote?

KEVIN TRACY: Embrace the teachings of his faith and define the remainder of his Presidency by his rediscovered Catholic values. A lot of people would have to be fired before I would believe it though.

Thank you all for coming out this morning. Before I go, I wanted to let everyone know that all of the photos from the Notre Dame game on September 10th, 2022 have been posted. I'll make sure Rachel provides a link in the transcript of this Press Conference.