More than a quarter of Republican voters reportedly said they would support former President Donald Trump as a third-party candidate in the 2024 election, potentially dividing the GOP electorate as the party strives to reclaim the White House.
As the 2024 primary field takes form, a majority of Republican voters want to move past Trump and elect someone else as their party’s nominee.
In a series of hypothetical confrontations between Trump and other prospective Republican contenders, polling reveals the former president is losing favor with GOP voters overall.
The Florida governor defeated Trump 52%-30% in a one-on-one debate, according to the survey. Another 3% stated they would not vote for either candidate, with 15% remaining unsure.
According to the survey, in a hypothetical showdown between President Joe Biden, DeSantis, and Trump, around 56% of Republicans indicated they would vote for the Florida governor, while 28% would choose Trump for a second term even while running as a third party candidate.
Another 5% of Republicans indicated they’d rather vote for Biden than DeSantis or Trump, with the remaining 9% unsure.
The poll indicates the potential danger Trump could pose to the GOP if he decided to run as a third party candidate in the 2024 presidential race.
The Bulwark poll, conducted between January 16 and 21, polled 1,000 potential Republican voters and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. The survey was carried out in cooperation with North Star Opinion Research.
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