Club for Growth Hosts Closed-Press Retreat for 2024 Hopefuls, Shaping the Future of the Republican Party

This week, the conservative Club for Growth is hosting a closed-press donor retreat for 2024 hopefuls during the same time as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The retreat will be held at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, just three miles from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

The retreat is being seen as a sign that the Club for Growth is looking to move the GOP past Trump. However, the former president was not invited to the retreat. Trump responded to the news on Tuesday morning, derisively calling the Club for Growth “Club for NO Growth” and saying the group “is an insignificant group of Globalists who I have beaten badly because of their anti America First views.”

Early Republican presidential hopefuls have been reluctant to draw a contrast with the former president and early 2024 primary front-runner. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the first Republican to launch her campaign after Trump this cycle, has repeatedly punted when asked how she differs from the ex-president on policy. She has repeated the line about kicking “forward” and not “sideways” in other interviews.

The retreat will be attended by a select group of 2024 hopefuls, and will be closed to the press. It is unclear who will be attending the retreat, but it is expected to be a who’s who of potential GOP presidential contenders.

The Club for Growth’s annual retreat is seen as a way for the group to shape the future of the Republican party and the 2024 presidential election. It will be interesting to see who attends the retreat and what policies they will be discussing.