GOP Prefers DeSantis By Double-Digits, Most Want Trump Out Of 2024 Race: POLL
A new poll shows Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida with a wide lead over former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, with most Republicans and Republican-leaning independents not wanting Trump to run again, a departure from other polls that show Trump ahead.
Around 56% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters selected DeSantis as their top pick to be the party’s nominee in the general election, while just 33% preferred Trump, according to USA Today, which sponsored the poll conducted by Suffolk University. The 23% lead is among the widest deficits that Trump has seen in recent polls following the announcement of his 2024 presidential campaign in November.
Additionally, 61% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters stated that they want somebody other than Trump to run for the nomination, while just 31% said they wanted him to run. “Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump,” said David Paleologos of Suffolk’s Political Research Center.
Separately, DeSantis has better odds of beating President Joe Biden in 2024, should he run for reelection, according to the poll. It showed DeSantis beating Biden in a general election by a 5-point margin, 47% to 42%, while showing Trump losing to Biden by 7 points.
The gulf in support portends a significant problem for Trump, 76, as he seeks another term in office. Both Trump’s presidential campaign and general political influence have been questioned by Republicans following the results of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Trump played a significant role, but in which Republicans underperformed significantly and failed to win control of the Senate.
Trump-endorsed candidates ran in key battleground Senate races in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, beating out more moderate candidates who some GOP leaders claimed could have won. The same was true in the House, where several Trump-endorsed candidates lost, and where the GOP’s slim majority of 222 seats is posing problems for the conference leadership, particularly the efforts of House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of California to gain enough votes for the speakership.
By contrast, DeSantis has garnered acclaim from Republicans for his landslide reelection victory in November, winning by a 19% margin in a swing state, and for his advocacy of conservative policies in Florida – including the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, parental rights in education, critique of transgender ideology and reprisals against progressive corporate activity, such as that by The Walt Disney Company.
While DeSantis remains Republican voters’ top choice, other than Trump, for the nomination across multiple polls, other politicians such as former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, are believed to be preparing to run for the nomination.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters and 374 Republicans or Republican-leaning independents; that sample had a margin of error of 5.1 points.
Trump and DeSantis’ offices did not respond to a request for comment.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
I agree with the Donald Trump naysayers. We know that Mr. Trump is controlled opposition, or at the minimum a narcissistic bumbler. As for Gov. DeSantis, I guess more data is needed to decide which side of the uniparty he falls on. A sad state of affairs all around. Especially since the current Pretender in Chief is such an obvious imbecile.
De Santis and the overwhelming Republican victory in what used to be a “swing state” is the brightest spot in an otherwise underwhelming midterm election. De Santis is clearly the future for the party.
I voted for Trump twice and consider him one, if not the most, accomplished Presidents in our history; especially considering the lying, unhinged opposition he faced for four years.
However, that said, he doesn’t know how to pick his battles and his ego is so big that he engages in snarky or even vicious attacks whenever anyone has the slightest disagreement, or even for no reason. His recent dig against De Santis was totally uncalled for and has erased my support. Earlier this year his attack on Kelly Ann Conway (for an imagined sleight), who was one of his most trusted, ardent, and persuasive spokespeople for four years, is another case in point.
Likewise his attacks on Bolduc, O’Dea, Kemp and any other Republican that didn’t stroke his ego or that he didn’t personally anoint. His narcissism has been of full display the I’ve had enough.
His other “blind spot” has been in picking the right people in key positions, not just on the basis of their expressed allegiance or who most strokes his oversized ego. His pick of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and then Bill Barr are the most glaring examples. Imagine what accountability and house cleaning could have happened at the DOJ and the FBI with a “Lion” as Attorney General, instead of two “get along” RINO’s. Then, he wouldn’t fire the perfidious and traitorous FBI Director, Comey.
DeSantis has displayed none of those issues. He fights with the ferocity of Trump, but is far more articulate and persuasive in his speech and never wanders off track or off point as Trump has the propensity to do. His sending of 50 illegals to Martha’s Vineyard has brilliantly shone a national spotlight on the libs hyperbolic hypocrisy. There is no other governor that has had the cojones to fire a Soros prosecutor for not upholding the law, or has had the strength to take on a Goliath “woke” corporation like Disney and he did so flawlessly. Further, his cabinet in Florida has been rock solid; especially his Attorney General and Surgeon General; who always spoke against the Draconian COVID hysteria. DeSantis has a Military and Legal background which will be invaluable in fighting the now entrenched treasonous Democratic opposition. So in 2024, it’s time for Trump to pass the torch to a much younger fighter, avoiding any party infighting. Clearly DeSantis is the better choice.