Former President Donald Trump is boasting a 49-point lead over his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, this week’s Morning Consult survey found.
Trump now has support from 62 percent of potential Republican primary voters, which is close to his all-time high of 63 percent in this survey. This puts him 49 points ahead of his closest challenger, DeSantis. The Florida governor comes in a distant second in the lower teens with 13 percent support nationally among potential GOP primary voters. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley comes in six points behind with seven percent support, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy (six percent). Then comes former Vice President Mike Pence (5 percent), who dropped out of the race on Saturday, stating, “This is not my time, but it is still your time.” Every other candidate listed saw two percent support or less:
According to our latest tracking, the bulk of the GOP’s electorate (62%) would back Trump if the primary or caucus were held in their state today, while 13% would support DeSantis. https://t.co/zpObC29kvJ pic.twitter.com/1UhrdvYaT1
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) October 24, 2023
That portion of the survey was taken October 20-22, 2023, among 3,876 Republican primary voters. It has a +/- 2 percent margin of error.
As has been consistent in several other Morning Consult surveys of the past, Trump also remains the most favorable candidate across the board, as 77 percent have a favorable opinion of him. While DeSantis has a positive favorable rating as well, with 60 percent viewing him favorably, his unfavorable rating is higher than Trump’s — 25 percent to the former president’s 22 percent.
Ramaswamy, Pence, Haley, and Sen. Tim Scott also share a positive approval rating, unlike former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, all three of whom are under water.
Republican presidential candidates, from left, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum stand on stage before a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX News Channel Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Milwaukee (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File).
The survey also showed Trump and Biden tied in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup. In comparison, DeSantis trails Biden by five points:
Biden and Trump are tied at 43%, while DeSantis trails the incumbent by 5 points in hypothetical general election matchups.
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) October 24, 2023
Voters are slightly more uncertain about whom they would support or would opt for “someone else” when Biden is up against DeSantis. https://t.co/zpObC29Slh pic.twitter.com/WyyETDuQt7
The survey comes as DeSantis ramps up attacks on Trump, recently telling reporters the former president has a “sense of entitlement” and is “wedded to the teleprompter.”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump (James Devaney/GC Images) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
“He can’t get off that teleprompter. Anytime he does, he says things like, “Don’t vote.” He’s telling people not to vote,” he said, attempting to make the argument that “this is a different Donald Trump than 2015 and 2016.”
“[He] lost the zip on his fastball, has a sense of entitlement, all this stuff, doesn’t think he has to go through like other candidates, and that’s just not going to fly in Iowa [and] New Hampshire,” DeSantis said:
This is a different Donald Trump from 2016. pic.twitter.com/ygyFCIsbq2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 24, 2023
But the polls say otherwise, as Trump remains the runaway frontrunner in states such as New Hampshire and Iowa, leading DeSantis by an average of 34.6 percent and 33 percent, respectively, per Wednesday’s RealClearPolitics (RCP) figures.
The survey comes as DeSantis makes his way through the Hawkeye State, visiting all of the 99 counties.
