Trump Falls Far Behind DeSantis In Race For GOP 2024 Presidential Nomination, New Poll Shows

Former President Donald Trump announced his bid for the 2024 White House just last month, but Republican voters are already ushering him off stage, according to a newly released USA Today/Suffolk University poll.

The poll found that by a 2-1 margin, right-leaning voters hoped for a candidate with Trump’s policies and a less controversial personality. A majority of voters, 61% to be precise, said that they would like to see the Republican party back a different nominee while 31% said that they would like to see Trump represent the party again.

Though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has not yet formally announced a 2024 campaign, pundits see him as the most likely challenger to Trump. Those polled seem to think the same as 56% said they would like DeSantis to run as they prefer him over Trump. Just 33% prefer Trump over DeSantis.

Trump has become an increasingly controversial figure since leaving the White House. He is currently facing a number of legal battles as he is being investigated for his possible role in inciting the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, allegedly interfering with 2020 election certification in Georgia and mishandling of classified White House documents.

Some Republicans worry that Trump is hurting the party as a whole, pointing to a disappointing midterm election cycle in which the Republicans had been projected to take the majority in both houses of Congress. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) on Tuesday faulted Trump for causing “candidate quality” issues. He said that Republicans lost winnable races due to Trump’s backing of controversial and extreme candidates.