As politics plays out, growing signs indicate that more and more Republicans are ready to move on from Donald Trump.
Just last night, Kari Lake, the Republican whom Trump endorsed for the Arizona governor’s race, ended up losing her election to Democrat Katie Hobbs. Many other Trump endorsees in these midterm elections also went on to lose their races.
Right now, Republicans are having to ask themselves whether or not Trump is a liability to the party. Those who do believe it’s time to move on are largely throwing their weight behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis has made massive gains in the GOP ever since he cruised to a second term in office last week, along with turning reliably Democratic counties like Miami-Dade into red counties.
Now, conservative economic group Club For Growth is releasing data showing DeSantis with several leads over Trump in primary election polls across states, per Breitbart News.
Foreshadowing of the 2024 GOP Primary?
In states like Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, and Iowa, DeSantis has double-digit leads over Trump in primary race polls.
In Texas, DeSantis also leads Trump; whereas just last month, Trump had the lead over DeSantis in polling for the 2024 GOP primary.
Club for Growth commissioned 2024 polling of GOP primary voters in IA/NH:
IOWA:
DeSantis 48 (+11 from August)
Trump 37 (-15 from August)
Undecided 16 (+4)NEW HAMPSHIRE:
DeSantis 52 (+7 from August)
Trump 37 (-8)
Undecided 10 (+1)(via @PoliticoAlex)https://t.co/Jp0iiS6ors
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) November 14, 2022
The data put out by Club For Growth follows a pattern of Trump’s support steadily declining while support for DeSantis rises. This also tracks with a growing number of Republicans getting tired of Trump and wanting to move onto a different leader and/or a generational shift.
2024 is still quite some time away. Though if DeSantis’ stock keeps rising while Trump’s stock falls, this could very well position the Florida governor to win the Republican nomination in 2024, should he decide to run.
Trump Not Helping Himself
It seems very clear that Trump can sense portions of the Republican Party gradually wanting to move on to someone else. However, the ways in which the former president is handling this are not good.
He’s started attacking governors like DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin, both Republicans, without any sort of provocation.
NEWS: The Club for Growth fires a warning shot at Trump on the eve of his ‘24 launch – and indicates it might back DeSantis
Club – a former staunch Trump ally – releases polling memo showing DeSantis with wide leads over Trump in IA/NH/FL/GAhttps://t.co/fbofBWrWx3
— Alex Isenstadt (@politicoalex) November 14, 2022
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to declare he’s running for president on Tuesday; that’s despite calls from Republicans for Trump to delay his announcement until after the Georgia runoffs have played out.
Various pundits in conservative media are likewise starting to cool on the former president as everything plays out.
As things stand today, DeSantis appears to be keeping his powder dry (for now). He’s not responding to Trump’s insults, nor has he explicitly stated he won’t run for president in 2024.
What do you think about new polls that show DeSantis with considerable leads over Trump in multiple states nationwide? In the comments area below, you’re more than welcome to share what you believe this is all about.
This article appeared in The Conservative Brief and has been published here with permission.
