New poll shows Trump with an aggressive lead over his closest competitor, Gov. Ron DeSantis.
QUICK FACTS:
- According to a Polling USA poll, former President Donald Trump is by far the favored Republican to win the 2024 presidential election.
- Trump outpaces DeSantis by almost 40 points with 45 percent of likely Republicans backing him according to Newsweek.
- DeSantis brought in just 16 percent of likely voters and former Vice President Mike Pence was third with just under eight percent of the hypothetical vote.
- This after The Atlantic reported on Jan. 15 that the president had “soft-launched” his 2024 presidential campaign, citing the rally held in Arizona as proof of the former president’s intentions.
PREVIOUS POLLING DATA:
- Previously a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll conducted between late November and early December reported by Newsweek showed that more than 65 percent of voters backed Trump.
- A poll conducted in December claimed that DeSantis was “slowly closing the gap with Trump” in the GOP Primary polls, according to Hot Air.
- Additionally, a YouGov poll conducted between December 14 and 20 indicated a slightly lower number, that 55 percent of Republicans chose Trump and around 20 percent backed DeSantis.
BACKGROUND:
- Trump and DeSantis have been sharing headlines since there was a report that the pair were starting to “turn” on one another, fueled by their 2024 presidential aspirations.
- However, in a Jan. 21 interview with Fox News, Trump denied the claim calling it “fake news,” as Business Insider reported.
- “I have a very good relationship with Ron and I intend to have it for a long time,” Trump told Fox host Sean Hannity.
- DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw told Newsweek in a statement that there never was a problem between the pair and that the stories were attempts by the media to “distract from President Biden’s failures.”
- “It is not a coincidence that this fabricated media narrative emerged during perhaps the worst week of Biden’s presidency, as it became clear last week that Biden would not be able to deliver on Build Back Better, enact sweeping legislation to federalize elections, or ‘shut down the virus,’ as he had promised repeatedly during the 2020 campaign,” Pushaw said.
