With just over 1.5 years left until the presidential election in the United States, Donald Trump is far ahead of his competitors within the Republican Party.
– I have high hopes for Desantis, but as long as Trump is there, he is the man, says Daniel Brown, 58, a Republican from Virginia, to the New York Times.
Charge after charge, suspicions surrounding the storming of the Capitol and his claims that the vote count in the 2020 election was not correct – none of it seems to be stopping Donald Trump’s progress.
In an opinion poll which New York Times let it be done, 54 percent answer that they would vote for Trump if there were an election today. Only 17 percent said they would vote for his main competitor, Ron Desantis.
None of the other Republican candidates received more than 3 percent.
Like Desantis, love Trump
Ron Desantis, 44, is Florida’s governor and is best known internationally for his “anti-woke” campaign and the state’s newly enacted law that restricts education about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools.
He is popular within the Republican Party but his star shine pales in comparison to that of Donald Trump. The New York Times writes that they saw a recurring theme in the poll: People say they like Ron Desantis, but they love Trump.
– I have high hopes for Desantis, but as long as Trump is there, he is the man, says Daniel Brown, a retired nuclear engineer, to the newspaper.
Appeals to different demographics
Before the primaries when the presidential candidate is to be washed out, the voter base thought that Trump better fits the description “strong leader” and “one who gets things done” than Desantis – while the more people thought that Desantis was “easy to like” and “moral”.
The survey also shows that Trump’s support is broad within the Republican Party. In all age categories, geographical areas and ideological phalanxes within the party, the former president has the greatest voter support.
– There are simply more die hard fans for Trump than Ron Desantis, even in Florida. I don’t see a person wearing a Ron Desantis cap anywhere, you know? says Marcel Praba, a waiter in Miami, to the New York Times.