Trump maintaining wide lead over GOP 2024 primary field

A new Morning Consult poll showed former President Donald Trump maintaining a wide lead over his nearest opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Trump had 53% Republican support in the poll, with DeSantis at 24%. The poll showed slight movement by both candidates, with a slight leveling out of support following the Trump indictment but still a big lead over DeSantis and other rivals.

The poll also asked about voters' candidate preferences if Trump were not in the race, with a plurality of 44% naming DeSantis as their top candidate.

The next-closest candidate in a non-Trump scenario was former Vice President Mike Pence at 15%, then the other two declared candidates in the race, Vivek Ramaswamy at 7% and Nikki Haley at 5%.

Trump responded to the poll, telling Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle, “Well, I’m honored. Sadly, I have to say part of it is because the country is doing so poorly. I wish it were for other reasons.”

“I think the party is very unified,” Trump said, referring to a number of recent endorsements. “I also think they’re looking at the polls now and they’re saying, ‘wow, that’s impressive.’ But we’re leading by so much and they’re seeing that I think people look back to those four years we had.”