Former President Donald Trump boasts the highest favorability in the potentially crowded Republican field, a Morning Consult survey released this week revealed.
The survey, which showed Trump leading the potentially crowded GOP field with majority support and a 29-point advantage, also found Trump with the highest favorability rating among Republican primary voters.
Overall, 76 percent view Trump favorably, compared to 21 percent who do not. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falls behind, as 68 percent view him favorably, compared to 14 percent who do not. However, nine percent said they have never heard of DeSantis — a reality Trump does not face.
The only other potential candidate to garner a favorability rating over 50 percent is former Vice President Mike Pence. While 57 percent view him favorably, he actually has the second-highest unfavorability rating of everyone listed. Pence is second only to former Rep. Liz Cheney, as 51 percent view her unfavorably. Thirty-one percent said the same of Pence.
Former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley came in fourth place, with 47 percent viewing her favorably. While her unfavorability rating is similar to DeSantis’s — 17 percent to the governor’s 14 percent — 20 percent said they have never heard of her. Similarly, over a quarter said they have never heard of Sen. Tim Scott or Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and 43 percent said they have never heard of anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Despite such a high figure, that is an improvement from the 52 percent who said they had never heard of the presidential candidate last week.
This comes as Trump continues to dominate the GOP primary field in both national and state surveys and coincides with many endorsements piling up for the former president, particularly from members of the Florida congressional delegation.
Florida Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) is the latest U.S. congressman from Florida to openly endorse Trump for president over DeSantis, although the governor has yet to join the presidential race.
“I’m happy and honored to endorse Donald J. Trump for president in 2024,” he told Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt.
“He’s the only person that can reverse on day one, all these disastrous policies of the Biden administration,” Steube continued.
“We need to right all the wrongs that have happened under this administration, fix the things that happen in Afghanistan, support our military and our veterans, and do the things that the America First agenda stands for, and that is one person, Donald Trump,” Steube added:
Other Florida congressional delegation members who have expressed support for Trump include Reps. Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds, Anna Paulina Luna, and Cory Mills. Others outside of Florida — including House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and more — have also endorsed Trump.
“I think the party is very unified,” Trump told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview with Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle. “I also think they’re looking at the polls now and they’re saying, ‘wow, that’s impressive.’ But we’re leading by so much and they’re seeing that.”
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