Former President Donald Trump extended his lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to 37 points, according to a Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday.
The poll finds that 58 percent of potential Republican primary voters prefer Trump over DeSantis, 21 percent. This 37 point difference is the largest lead Trump ever had over DeSantis since Morning Consult started polling the GOP primary in December.
Former Vice-President Mike Pence is in a distant third with 7 percent followed by Nikki Haley, Liz Cheney and Vivek Ramaswamy all of whom received 3 percent support. No other candidate scored above 1 percent.
DeSantis is widely considered to be Trump’s biggest obstacle to securing the Republican Party nomination in 2024. However, he has fallen further behind the former president as the Republican base rally around Trump in recent months as he faces mounting legal troubles and an indictment in New York for alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
Asked about his falling poll numbers during a press conference in Japan, DeSantis told a reporter, “I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes.”
Of all the candidates who receive more than 1 percent in the poll, DeSantis and Pence haven’t officially announce a run for president, though both are expected to do so soon. It is not clear what Cheney’s plans are for 2024.
