Poll: Trump leading GOP presidential candidate

Former President Donald Trump has a significant lead over the other potential candidates for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination.

Those numbers come from a new NBC poll saying 46% of likely primary voters would mark their ballot for Donald Trump, and 31% would choose Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Governor DeSantis has not officially announced he’s running for President. Even though he hasn’t said, he will challenge the man who helped him become Governor, the man who coined the phrase “Make America Great Again.” Nevertheless, the former President isn’t waiting for DeSantis to make anything official, he’s already in attack mode.

“I only like polls if they’re good if not, I’m like, ehhhhh, but there was one poll I like a very good. Respected poll. A Florida poll. The Florida voice poll. 80% for Trump and 16% for DeSantis,” Trump said.

At the Lincoln Reagan Dinner in downtown Fort Myers on Friday night, Trump told Republican voters he is going to beat their Governor in his own backyard.

And according to the numbers from that NBC poll, he isn’t wrong. But the gap was larger a month ago. DeSantis appears to be preparing for the challenge.

DeSantis is building his resume in Florida and traveling across the country and the world promoting his new book, The Courage to Be Free. DeSantis is on a four-nation tour to the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Israel, and on Monday he met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in an effort to boost his foreign policy credentials.

During a photo-op, DeSantis said he’s not worried about the former President or the polls because the battle hasn’t even begun.

“I’m not a candidate so we’ll see if, and when, that changes,” DeSantis said.

Most political analysts said when Florida’s legislative session wraps up in early May is when DeSantis may announce a run for The White House.