“I think Donald Trump is going to carry a lot of baggage to the election with him,” said Hilda Bulla, 68, of Davidson County, North Carolina, who supports DeSantis. And only 17% see the former president as having committed any serious federal crimes, despite his indictment by a federal grand jury on charges of mishandling classified documents and his receipt of a so-called target letter in the separate election interference case being brought by the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith. Only 19% of the electorate said Trump’s behavior after his 2020 defeat threatened American democracy.

The truly anti-Trump faction of the Republican electorate appears to hover near 1 in 4 GOP voters, hardly enough to dethrone him. “And DeSantis has, but in a much smaller arena.” “Trump has proven his clout,” said Mallory Butler, 39, of Polk County, Florida. “If he wasn’t running against Trump, DeSantis would be my very next choice,” said Stanton Strohmenger, 48, a maintenance technician in Washington Township, Ohio.Ī number of respondents interviewed drew a distinction between DeSantis’ accomplishments in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee, and Trump’s in the White House. But as long as Trump’s there, Trump’s the man,” said Daniel Brown, 58, a retired technician at a nuclear plant from Bumpass, Virginia. In interviews with poll respondents, a recurring theme emerged: They like DeSantis they love Trump. His political team has argued that his overall positive image with GOP voters provides a solid foundation on which to build.īut the intensity of the former president’s support is a key difference as 43% of Republicans have a “very favorable” opinion of Trump - a cohort that he carries by an overwhelming 92% to 7% margin in a one-on-one race with DeSantis.īy contrast, DeSantis is stuck in an effective tie with Trump, edging him 49% to 48%, among the smaller share of primary voters (25%) who view the Florida governor very favorably. That DeSantis is still so well liked after a drumbeat of news coverage questioning his ability to connect with voters, and more than $20 million in attack ads from a Trump super PAC, demonstrates a certain resiliency. Trump and DeSantis maintain strong overall favorable ratings from Republicans, 76% and 66%. But at the end of the day, you want results. “You got to be a little sissy and cry about everything. “He might say mean things and make all the men cry, because all the men are wearing your wife’s underpants and you can’t be a man anymore,” said David Green, 69, a retail manager in Somersworth, New Hampshire, said of Trump. For now, though, Trump appears to match both the surly mood of the Republican electorate, 89% of whom see the nation as headed in the wrong direction, and Republicans’ desire to take the fight to the Democrats.

New york times recipe