Former US President Donald Trump has widened his lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical Republican primary matchup to 33 points, according to a new poll quoted by The Hill.
A Morning Consult poll found Trump with 56 percent of the vote among a group of current and potential GOP challengers for the nomination, and DeSantis in second with 23 percent. This marks Trump’s widest lead in the poll since Morning Consult started tracking the hypothetical primary in December.
The most recent poll found that former Vice President Pence came in third with 7 percent, followed by former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with 4 percent and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) with 3 percent.
Almost half of respondents who said they supported Trump would support DeSantis as their second choice, while 41 percent of those who prefer DeSantis said they would support Trump as their second option.
Both Trump and DeSantis perform similarly in a hypothetical matchup against President Biden, with Trump trailing by 1 point and DeSantis behind by 2 points.
Trump and DeSantis are both viewed overwhelmingly favorably among Republicans, with 78 percent of potential GOP primary voters viewing Trump positively and 69 percent viewing DeSantis positively.
Pollsters have also found no increase in negative feelings toward Trump since he was indicted on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in New York.
The poll also found that the announcement from former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week that he would join the race does not appear to have had a major effect on the polling. Almost 7 in 10 potential Republican primary voters said they did not hear much about the announcement, and only 1 percent said they would support him.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week found that Trump has widened his lead over his rivals in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest, with some 48% of self-described Republicans saying they want Trump to be their party's presidential nominee, compared to some 19% who backed DeSantis.
So far, Trump has confirmed his intentions to seek the 2024 Republican nomination, as has Haley. DeSantis has not yet announced a presidential bid, but has been actively preparing for a campaign and is widely expected to make a final decision later this year.
Pence has said he will make a decision “by the spring” about whether to seek the presidency in 2024.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of the Seventh Day of Passover in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)