Trump extends lead over DeSantis to 14 POINTS in new poll

Former President Donald Trump has extended his lead to 14 points over his main challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a new national Quinnipiac poll for the 2024 Republican nomination.

the surveywhich was released Wednesday shows that 46 percent of registered Republican voters would choose Trump as the party’s nominee, while 32 percent said DeSantis.

Another 5 percent said they would back the former UN Ambassador. Nikki Haley, while 3 percent would go to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Last month, Trump and DeSantis were in a tighter race for the nomination, with Trump receiving the support of 42 percent of registered GOP voters and DeSantis backing 36 percent.

Trump’s gains come as the former president began to hit DeSantis harder, though at the same time he’s embroiled in more legal drama as a Manhattan grand jury is hearing key witnesses in the Trump hush money scheme case. 2016 involving former president and porn star Stormy Daniels.

Former President Donald Trump began hitting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis harder, as he did during his appearance Monday in Davenport, Iowa.

“DeSantis might be the buzz in the Republican conversation, but for now Trump sees no erosion and is, in fact, enjoying an increase in his lead in the Republican primary,” Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac University, said in a statement.

Trump announced he would run for the White House again in mid-November, while DeSantis has stayed on the sidelines, though going on a book tour he has recently appeared in early primary states.

Haley announced her presidential candidacy on February 15.

Quinnipiac’s February poll was conducted a day later.

In the four weeks since, Haley’s polls have been flat as he also received the support of 5 percent of registered Republicans nationally in February.

Pence has actually lost a point of footing since February, though it’s not statistically significant with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

No other potential Republican candidate polled more than 2 percent in the March poll.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to announce a presidential run, but he is touring the early states of the primaries, like this appearance in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of a book tour.

Former Ambassador Nikki Haley (left), who announced a candidacy, and former Vice President Mike Pence (right) are the only two other Republican candidates to poll above 2 percent.

If Trump and DeSantis were the only two on the field, Trump maintained his commanding lead.

The former president received the support of 51 percent of DeSantis’ 40 percent of registered Republican voters nationwide.

DeSantis, however, is more competitive against Democratic President Joe Biden, but both Republicans would lose, even though DeSantis’ tally is within the 2.4 margin of error of the full poll.

Forty-nine percent of registered voters said they would back Biden if he were in a rematch against Trump, who received 45 percent support.

Against the Florida governor, Biden received support from 47 percent of registered voters to DeSantis’ 46 percent.