- George Conway said Ron DeSantis may be the only GOP figure who stands a chance of beating Trump.
- Conway said Trump might announce a run soon to prevent donors from backing other GOP candidates.
- Neither DeSantis nor Trump has formally declared his intention to run for president in 2024.
Conservative lawyer and Trump critic George Conway said he thinks Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is the only GOP candidate who stands a chance of defeating Trump in 2024.
Conway made the remarks on Saturday during an appearance on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." He is the husband of former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, and has publicly broken with his wife on their differing political views.
During the segment, anchor Anderson Cooper asked Conway whether he thought Trump would announce a presidential run before the midterms to disrupt the Republican field of candidates, to which Conway said it was "absolutely" possible.
"I think he understands that he can deter people from running, and he's going to end up freezing donors from giving money to other people," Conway said.
He added that donors are likely to think twice about wasting their money on other candidates if Trump is "probably going to win."
"The only way he gets beaten for the nomination is if maybe somebody is able to run a one-on-one campaign against him, probably DeSantis," Conway said, adding that it's "quite possible" that DeSantis makes a presidential bid.
Conway also highlighted how a multi-candidate race might split the votes between Trump and the rest, allowing the former president to clinch the nomination due to the GOP's "winner-take-all delegate rules."
Conway also told Cooper he thought Trump was "definitely going to announce" his run soon.
"I think he can't help himself. I think that he thinks that this is his way of undermining the investigation against him and immunizing himself against the investigation by saying, 'Oh, this is all political. Look at this. They want to stop me from winning and becoming president again, and I'm going to save the country and so on and so forth,'" Conway said.
Conway isn't the only conservative figure who has weighed in on a possible Trump run. Former House GOP staffer Kurt Bardella said he thinks Trump is likely to announce his campaign soon because he has "the impulse control of a freaking toddler." And as early as October, Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows said he was willing to bet all the money he had that Trump would run again in 2024.
The Washington Post reported this month that Trump has been meeting with top donors privately, where they discussed the midterms and the likelihood of him running in the next election. In the meantime, Trump is continuing to hint at campaigning without officially declaring his candidacy.
Insider previously reported that Trump considered announcing his 2024 bid on July 4, but nixed the plan.
Both DeSantis and Trump are viewed as frontrunners for the 2024 presidential ticket, though neither has formally declared intention to run. A DeSantis representative told Insider last week that DeSantis remains "focused on Florida and running for reelection as governor this year."
Meanwhile, Trump has teased a presidential run multiple times. In January, a video emerged that showed Trump calling himself the "45th and 47th president."