Donald Trump’s dominance in 2024 GOP primary polls is continuing, with the former president recording his largest lead yet over his potential main challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
An Emerson College survey found that nearly three-quarters (70 percent) of likely Republican voters in Kentucky would pick Trump in a hypothetical GOP primary, with DeSantis a distant second at 14 percent, giving the former president a 56-point lead.
The Emerson College Survey of 500 likely GOP voters was conducted in a state where Trump—as well as past Republican candidates—has known success, having won at least 62 percent of the votes in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, with DeSantis not even a confirmed 2024 candidate yet. Trump also won Kentucky’s Republican caucus in 2016 with nearly 36 percent of the vote, ahead of Texas Senator Ted Cruz who was at 31.6 percent.
The Emerson College poll is the latest indication that, despite his legal issues and civil trials which have threatened to derail his campaign, Trump remains the favorite to clinch the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
The Emerson College Survey also found that support for Trump had improved since he became the first U.S. president in history to be charged with a crime.
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On April 4, Trump pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, including falsifying business records, he’s facing in Manhattan in relation to an alleged hush money payment made to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.
The Emerson College survey was also conducted after, in a civil trial, a New York jury found Trump had sexually abused former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s, then defamed her character while denying the accusations.
Despite this, the former president saw an eight-point increase in support from a previous Emerson College poll in April (up from 62 percent), with DeSantis dropping nine points from 23 percent to 14 percent.
The poll results are another worrying sign for DeSantis amid concern the hype around his potential 2024 bid is quickly fading before it has officially begun.
In late 2022, as Trump was at risk of being charged in a number of other criminal investigations and was widely blamed for the GOP’s poor midterm performance, DeSantis was seen by some as the ideal replacement for the former president to lead the GOP in 2024.
The rise of DeSantis’ stock saw him ahead of Trump in a number of polls, with the governor also receiving the support of several key donors who believed it was time to move on from Trump.
However, with Trump able to drum up his support in recent weeks as he repeatedly attacks DeSantis, there are reportedly concerns that the Florida governor has failed to take advantage of the earlier enthusiasm for his White House bid, as well as damage it with his “anti-woke” agenda and attempts to ban abortions in Florida after six weeks.
“I was in the DeSantis camp,” Andrew Sabin, a metals magnate who donated $50,000 to the Florida Governor in 2022, told The New York Times. “But he started opening his mouth, and a lot of big donors said his views aren’t tolerable.” He was referring to Ukraine and abortion.
The Florida governor recently downplayed his struggling poll numbers against Trump during a recent trip to Japan. “I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes,” he said.
Newsweek has contacted Trump and DeSantis’ offices for comment via email.