Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ long-awaited 2024 presidential campaign announcement did not result in a spike for him in poll results released Thursday.
Fox News poll results showed that former President Donald Trump remained the front runner, with support from 53% of GOP primary voters compared to 20% for DeSantis. Emerson College poll results were even bleaker for the governor, showing Trump with 62% compared to DeSantis’ 20%.
DeSantis, who won the gubernatorial election in Florida by a wide margin last year, announced his candidacy during a Twitter Spaces event with company owner and controversial billionaire Elon Musk. Although the event – which was streamed online – began with awkward glitches, the presidential hopeful was eventually able to give a campaign pitch and answer questions.
Media outlets have said the announcement “flopped” (The New York Times), that it was “embarrassing” (CNN) and that it was “botched” (POLITICO).
“Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster,” said Trump in a Truth Social post during the event. “WATCH!”
Earlier this week, Morning Consult poll results had Trump in the lead as rumors swirled about DeSantis finally announcing his candidacy. Last month, Fox News poll results were slightly more favorable to DeSantis, with 21% GOP support compared to Trump’s 53%. Since February, Trump has gained 10 points and DeSantis has lost eight, according to the outlet.
During that time, Trump became the first president in history to be indicted and DeSantis’ feud with Disney over LGBTQ-related legislation in Florida escalated.
There were other GOP primary contenders monitored by the recent Fox News and Emerson polls, but Trump and DeSantis remained far in the lead.
Per the Fox results, former Vice President Mike Pence was at 5%, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy were both at 4%, and former Congress member Liz Cheney and Tim Scott were both at 2%. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin were at 1%, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Larry Elder, Asa Hutchinson, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez had less than 1%.
Per the Emerson results, Pence and Haley had 5% each and U.S.
Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) had 3%.
According to Fox’s results, 41% of registered voters said they are more likely to participate in the GOP primary compared to 40% who said they would vote in the Democratic primary. Although many GOP voters supported Trump, it seems that many of the survey participants have a negative view of the former president.
“The top characteristics ascribed to Trump are corrupt (55%) and strong leader (51%). For [President Joe] Biden, it’s caring (45%) and corrupt (44%) -- even as a majority says he isn’t (53%),” said the outlet.
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