Donald Trump may have declared that “America’s comeback begins now,” but the latest polls paint a dubious picture of his divisive re-election campaign.
Republican Underperformance in the medium term and A string of defeats for Trump-backed candidates Many are wondering if the former president is the right man to challenge for the White House in 2024.
GOP voters and Florida voters will have ‘better options,’ says his former VP Mike Pence ron desantis As a potential challenger is getting a lot of attention.
Mr Trump remains a deeply polarizing figure. In fact, 54% of voters viewed him very or somewhat unfavorably in last week’s midterm elections, according to an Associated Press VoteCast poll of more than 94,000 Americans.
An AP-NORC poll in October found that even Republicans have reservations about his continuing to serve as the party flag, with 43 percent saying they don’t want to see him run for president in 2024.
Will Florida’s ‘Trump 2.0’ turn against the former president?
Sunshine State Gov. Mr. DeSantis, who was re-elected last week with nearly 60 percent of the vote, has in the past been seen as Mr. Trump’s heir apparent.
Some Republican commentators and the media have dubbed Mr. DeSantis “Trump 2.0” because of his appeal to far-right conservatives.
In a recent series of polls of likely voters run by the Republican-affiliated Action for Growth Club, Mr. DeSantis has a large lead over Mr. Trump.
The state’s primary polls show Mr DeSantis beating Mr Trump by 11 (Iowa) and 26 (Florida) points, with Georgia and New Hampshire also leading by a wide margin.
“Florida is the place to wake up!” – DeSantis
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former president has Named his possible challenger “Ron DeSanctimonious” As the feud between the once close pair grew, Mr. DeSantis fought back.
In a lengthy statement, Mr. Trump called Mr. DeSantis an “average Republican governor with great public relations” and expressed anger that he had not publicly ruled out challenging him.
Asked about the comments, Mr DeSantis said it was all “just noise”.
“I just want to tell people to check the scoreboard last Tuesday night,” Mr. DeSantis said, referring to the midterm elections.
He called his huge victory in the gubernatorial race “the greatest Republican victory in Florida history.”
‘A better choice than Trump’, says his former deputy
While some Republicans with presidential ambitions have long ruled out running for Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence is another who is taking increasingly public steps for his own campaign.
In a recent interview, Mr. Pence told The New York Times that he was outraged by Mr. Trump’s actions on and before Jan. 6, 2021, the day of the riots at the U.S. Capitol, but that he did not attack his actions. character.
He declined to say whether Trump should be re-elected, but added: “I think we have better options.”