Donald Trump may very well be the presumptive GOP nominee for 2024, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the preferred candidate.
Sure, Trump is still the de facto leader of the Republican Party, thanks in no small part to the vociferous MAGA Movement’s fealty to him, but his controversial past is catching up to him this week as a worrisome new poll casts doubt on his viability in 2024.
Republican support for Donald Trump’s presidential bid in 2024 has cratered, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, as the former president is beleaguered by midterm losses and courtroom setbacks.
By 2-1, GOP and GOP-leaning voters now say they want Trump’s policies but a different standard-bearer to carry them. While 31% want the former president to run, 61% prefer some other Republican nominee who would continue the policies Trump has pursued.
Guess who’s filling the slot?
They have a name in mind: Two-thirds of Republicans and those inclined to vote Republican want Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president. By double digits, 56% to 33%, they prefer DeSantis over Trump.
“Republicans and conservative independents increasingly want Trumpism without Trump,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
The new will almost certainly enrage the former President, who has already begun viciously feuding with DeSantis over his potential 2024 run.
