Former President Donald Trump continues to soar above potential 2024 Republican primary challengers — some of whom have formally jumped in the presidential ring — a Morning Consult survey released Tuesday found.
The latest survey shows Trump leading his closest potential challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by 18 percent, or 48 percent to 30 percent.
No other potential candidate listed garnered double digit support. Former Vice President Mike Pence, for instance, came in third place with seven percent support, and Nikki Haley, who formally jumped into the presidential ring this month, remained unchanged from last week, maintaining her six percent support:
Disgraced former Rep. Liz Cheney followed with three percent support, while all other candidates listed received one percent support or less. Notably, anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the three candidates who has formally jumped into the GOP presidential ring, has one percent support. However, 44 percent of potential GOP primary voters said they have never heard of him.
When asked who they would choose as a second option, 47 percent of Trump voters said DeSantis, while 18 percent said Pence and five percent said Haley.
Similarly, 41 percent of DeSantis voters chose Trump as their second choice candidate, followed by 16 percent who said Haley, 12 percent who said Pence, and six percent who chose former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The survey was taken February 23-25, 2023, among 3,320 potential GOP primary voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error.
The results reflect relatively little change from last week’s survey, which showed Trump leading the presidential pack with 50 percent support and DeSantis and Haley neither gaining nor losing support, maintaining 30 percent support and 6 percent, respectively.