Former U.S. President Donald Trump would have a 17-point lead in a hypothetical GOP primary showdown against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, according to a Morning Consult poll.
Trump would get 48 percent support among potential Republican primary voters, according to the poll, followed by DeSantis, who would garner 31 percent of the support.
Third place would go to former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, with eight percent support, followed by former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, with three percent.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Representative to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Texas Senator Ted Cruz would both receive two percent of the vote, according to Morning Consult.
The poll notes that Trump’s favorability rating among likely Republican primary voters has improved over the past month, with 77 percent having a favorable opinion of him. In addition, just over one-third of DeSantis supporters would vote for Trump as a second choice.
Nonetheless, nearly seven in 10 likely voters have a favorable opinion of the Florida governor, who is running as the former president’s potential primary challenger.
The poll shows that voters believe DeSantis would fare slightly better against President Joe Biden in a hypothetical presidential election than Trump would.
So far, the former U.S. president has been the only one to make his candidacy for the presidency official, while DeSantis or Pence have not ruled out taking the step of running, as has been rumored in recent weeks.
The poll was conducted from January 13-15 among 829 likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of four percentage points.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
