Ian Patrick, FISM News
A Fox News survey released on Sunday shows former President Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential nomination, despite months of previous polling which showed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the frontrunner.
When presented with a list of potential Republican candidates for President in 2024, 43% of respondents said they would like to see Trump as the candidate. Following Trump was DeSantis at 28%, showing a 15 percentage point difference.
Nikki Haley, who had recently announced her intention to run as President, and former Vice President Mike Pence both received support from 7% of respondents. All other names received 2% or less support.
A poll with Trump leading the nomination is a turnaround from multiple previous polls which showed DeSantis as a clear or slight frontrunner for the nomination.
The poll also asked who a second choice nomination would be and combined the two. Trump still leads the combined figures with 57% support. DeSantis was right behind with 53% combined support as many opted for him as their second choice.
Although he has not yet officially announced an intention to run for President in 2024, DeSantis did make headlines calling for “new blood” in the Republican Party during the RNC Chair election.
On the other hand, Haley had announced her intention to run by this point and is receiving lower support according to this specific poll. When respondents were presented with the choice of Trump or Haley, the only two on their list who had announced a presidential campaign, 66% opted for Trump and 24% opted for Haley.
This survey also shows a 44% approval rating for President Biden as of February 22, and general disapproval for how he is handling top-button issues. In fact, on each listed issue like the Chinese spy balloon, the Ukraine war, and the economy there was greater disapproval over approval even if it was just by a single percentage point in some cases.