Trump predicts DeSantis will ‘soon’ drop out of GOP primary
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As former President Donald Trump maintains a massive lead over the rest of the Republican primary field and a narrow lead in the general election over President Joe Biden, the former president predicted Gov. Ron DeSantis will “soon” drop out of the race.
“Ron DeSanctimonious has the Poll numbers of a wounded bird falling from the sky,” Trump said. “I am up on him by 57 points, and going higher.”
While some polls hand Trump a lead near 57 points, like a recent one from SurveyUSA, he leads DeSantis by an average of ~45 points.
“He has proven to be a terrible and inept candidate who even fought Social Security and MediCare,” Trump continued.
“He will SOON be out of money and dropping out of the race for President,” he predicted. “After having single handidly gotten him elected Governor, with no thanks or glory, it has been a beautiful thing to watch. Good luck Ron!”
Trump is resting at a thin, but strategically advantageous, polling position compared to his 2020 numbers.
According to the RealClearPolitics polling aggregate, Trump leads Biden by one point, within the margin of error.
However, in 2020, when Trump narrowly lost the election due to a handful of narrow swing state deficits, he lost the national popular vote by more than four points and was behind in the polls by more than seven points.
Compared to the same time during the election cycle in 2020, Trump is seated in the same polling aggregate around eight points better.
Trump’s prediction comes as the first voting of the Republican presidential primary draws closer, set to begin with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15, 2024.
DeSantis has been targeting Iowa. According to his campaign Tuesday morning, the governor has now visited 74 counties out of the state’s 99.
“I am the only candidate that is doing all 99 counties, so by the end of today, we will have done 74 of the 99, and we are going to end up getting close to 99,” DeSantis said on KTIV. “I am going to save that 99th until we get a little closer so we can have some fanfare about it.”
“You have to go out and you have to earn it,” he continued. “You have to answer their questions, you’ve got to talk about your vision for the country and why you’d be a good president and that is exactly what we’ve done, and we are going to do that for the next 99 days… We’re going to win here.”
