DeSantis Appears to be Surging in Polls

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will kick off his 2024 Presidential campaign in West Des Moines, Iowa, as he continues to try to shore up support for his young presidential campaign. Despite the issues with his official announcement on Twitter, which earned him much mockery from former President Donald Trump's camp, it ultimately paid off for Gov. DeSantis in a very literal sense, raising $8.2 million for his war chest.

The latest update from the Real Clear Politics average of polls shows evidence of Gov. DeSantis possibly beginning to catch up to Trump, with polls favoring him at 22.4 percent compared to President Trump's 53.2 percent. While Trump retains a considerable lead with a 30.8 percent spread, DeSantis's poll ratings have increased by 6 points from 36.9 percent just over a week ago.

Also, keep in mind that none of these polls reflect the expected announcement bump DeSantis will receive.

Responses from Team DeSantis reflect this growing optimism, with Press Secretary Bryan Griffin stating because the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc spent more money attacking DeSantis than it did to boost candidates in the 2022 midterms, DeSantis is the "greatest threat" to Trump's reelection campaign.

"These are the largest ongoing expenditures against a non-candidate in Republican primary history, and that’s all you need to know to draw the obvious conclusion. Ron DeSantis presents the greatest threat to Donald Trump," said Griffin.

DeSantis stated in a recent interview he viewed criticism by Trump and his camp as "a good thing." Like Griffin, DeSantis said that Trump is focused on him rather than other Republican candidates such as Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott because DeSantis has the best chance of defeating Trump in the primary.

"I think a lot of what he’s doing is showing everyone that he understands that I’ve got a good chance to beat him because he doesn’t criticize anybody else now. It’s only me," said DeSantis.

Moreover, DeSantis highlighted his two terms as Governor as "a record of achievement that’s second to none" as a reason why Trump is focusing fire on him.

"They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think that I had a chance because I think they realize that I am offering folks a record of achievement that’s second to none," DeSantis continued.

Can we expect DeSantis to continue catching up to Trump in the polls? Time will tell, but this primary will be interesting.