Former United States President Donald Trump has already announced his intention to run for the office once again in 2024 but he may not have an easy road ahead of him. According to the latest poll conducted by USA Today and Suffolk University, Trump is not the favourite to win the Republican Party primaries and he is trailing Florida governor Ron DeSantis by almost 23 points.
DeSantis has gained a lot of political mileage after a resounding victory in the midterm elections but the situation was not similar for Trump. With the Republicans losing the Senate race once again, a lot of blame was put on the former President as several of his endorsements failed to win.
“Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today.
DeSantis was a candidate endorsed by Trump while he was president and thanks to his handling of several natural disasters and conservative stance, the Florida governor has created his own base.
“In July, 60% of Republicans wanted Trump to run again. In October, that number had dipped to 56%. Now it has fallen to 47%, an almost-even split with the 45% who don’t want him to run for a third time,” Paleologos explained when asked about Trump’s current dip in popularity.
The situation does not get any better when Trump was pitted against the incumbent President Joe Biden. The poll shows that Biden holds a 47%-40% lead over his predecessor. However, when it comes to DeSantis, Biden loses ground considerably with the Republican leading 47%-43%.
