Former U.S. President Donald Trump made comments about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ potential presidential run in 2024, suggesting that he does not believe DeSantis will be able to compete against him and that he will most likely drop out.
Although Trump has not officially announced his campaign for 2024 and was “coy about his intentions” during an interview with Yahoo Finance, he did not shy away from discussing the hypothetical match-up with Governor DeSantis.
“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” Trump said. “I don’t think I will face him … I think most people would drop out, I think he [DeSantis] would drop out.”
DeSantis on the other hand, when asked about the potential match-up, told Fox News, “I’m not considering anything beyond doing my job,” adding, “we’ve got a lot of stuff going on in Florida. I’m going to be running for reelection next year and we’re also working on a lot of things in the state beyond just the governor’s race.” He also said that the 2024 election is “way down the road,” and that it is, “not anything that I’m planning for.”
The recent buzz surrounding the future Republican primary comes after a poll administered by the John Bolton Super PAC saw DeSantis and Trump “virtually tied” with a popularity percentage of 25.2% and 26.2% respectively.
In the press release regarding the Bolton poll, it states, “This dramatic movement is the strongest evidence yet that Republican voters are tiring of Trump. Also, 57% of Republicans say ‘to move forward we need new leaders and fresh faces.’”
However, Trump’s confidence in his ability to win the Republican primary in 2024 is supported by other polls that tell a different story. According to the Yahoo Finance report, an Emerson College poll from early September found Trump trouncing DeSantis 67% to 10% in an 8-person field. The same poll found Trump narrowly beating President Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head general election matchup.
A Florida Politics report highlights a survey from the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University that has Trump way ahead of DeSantis. As stated in the report, the survey says that Trump is still the favorite, and it is former Vice President, Mike Pence, who would be the second choice for Republicans. Trump drew 58% support when included, compared to Pence’s 13% and DeSantis’ 9%. Excluding Trump, Pence was the choice of 32%, and DeSantis just 20%.
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Casey Owens is a contributing writer for The Florida Capital Star. Follow him on Twitter at @cowensreports. Email tips to [email protected].
