Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is broadening his lead over former President Donald Trump, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
The poll questioned who participants would vote for in a hypothetical GOP Primary, with DeSantis gaining a 23 percentage point lead in the poll.
Data released by the USA Today-Suffolk University poll showed Republican and Republican-leaning voters were inclined to vote for DeSantis. Fifty-six percent of supporters chose DeSantis as their preferred candidate, compared to 33 percent who chose Trump.
Sixty percent of participants also indicated they wanted a candidate that wasn’t Trump but would be pursuing Trump’s signature policies, while 31 percent simply wanted Trump to run.
Suffolk University Political Research Center director, David Paleologos, noted that Republican and conservative-leaning Independents were interested in “Trumpism without Trump.”
The Trumpism without its namesake points to the former President losing his grip on a party where his control was once palpable.
But Trump’s Iron-Clad grip on the GOP is loosening. Since the former President announced his bid for the White House in November, the signs he is losing control over the GOP are becoming more apparent.
The most evident aspect that the former President doesn’t have an iron grip on his party anymore is the fierce blame he received from those within the party for the party’s midterm results.
The GOP lost several high-profile races after many of Trump’s endorsed candidates were handily defeated by their Democratic counterparts. The quality of Trump’s candidates was the main focus of the criticism. Because while most of Trump’s candidates cruised through the GOP primary, they couldn’t get the support they needed to win.
