(PatrioticPost.com)- The race for president is becoming heated but as some Republicans are hoping that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announces his bid, former President Donald Trump is already leading the party, according to a report by the defense and national security website 19FortyFive.
Trump was recently named the number one contender for 2024, according to Mediaite. In a straw poll conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump trounced Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor and Republican candidate Nikki Haley, and Senator Ted Cruz.
Trump came in first, winning 62% of the vote, while DeSantis came in at around 20%. Though DeSantis has enjoyed popularity among conservatives for his policies in his state, because he did not attend the conference the poor polling numbers were reportedly anticipated. But the decision to leave the conference to Trump was also unwise, according to analyst Brandon J. Weichert.
Trump’s attacks on DeSantis, which notably began after the 2022 midterms, are beginning to set the stage for a messy primary. The GOP was set to name DeSantis as the leader of the party when Trump-endorsed candidates did not win across the country, failing to bring about the much-anticipated “red wave.”
DeSantis is allegedly making a critical mistake by allowing Trump to have the floor at CPAC, winning over the younger crowd and furthering his image as the 47th president as he criticizes DeSantis as part of the “dreaded globalist establishment.”
While the other candidates appeared at the conference to try to win, or at least stir up, the Republican base, DeSantis was reportedly promoting his book in California, allowing Trump to have more talking point fodder.
Weichert writes that DeSantis is currently pandering to the elites while Trump is winning over the base, adding that the governor’s silence around Trump’s criticisms is not going to work out well for a prospective campaign. If DeSantis continues at this pace, he is allegedly going to be the next Mitt Romney rather than Ronald Reagan.
