As the primary season nears, President Donald Trump remains at the forefront of American political discourse. According to Republican presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s recent surge in polls results from voter “sympathy” over his recent criminal indictments by Democratic partisan prosecutors in New York and Florida.
DeSantis, Trump’s closest GOP contender, while expressing support for Trump, suggested on Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” Sunday broadcast that Trump’s indictment had unintentionally elevated his political profile. In his view, the New York case against Trump involving alleged violations of campaign finance laws was a “miscarriage of justice.” This perspective, according to DeSantis, combined with Trump’s dominance in media coverage, explains the former president’s increasing popularity among GOP voters.
.@RonDeSantis: "The media does not want me to be the nominee above all else, [&] that will, in the long run, absolutely help me..They know that I would beat Biden." Says he dropped when Trump was indicted and "just dominating the media coverage" #Mediabuzzhttps://t.co/omKFx7mjYx
— #MediaBuzz (@MediaBuzzFNC) July 16, 2023
Polls show Trump holding a more than 30 percentage point average lead. One recent survey by Morning Consult showed that among GOP voters, 56% favored Trump, with DeSantis coming in a distant second at 17%. Yet, DeSantis insists he’s not concerned, focusing on ground efforts in early primary states.
DeSantis said of the back and forth with Trump: “I have no interest in attacking Donald Trump or any of these other candidates personally. I think we’ve got to rise above that and let’s focus on the issues.”
Trump, meanwhile, has been less reserved in his critique of DeSantis. Labeling the Florida Governor as a “loser,” Trump’s campaign pointed to DeSantis’s alleged mismanagement of campaign funds. On his platform, Truth Social, Trump predicted that DeSantis’s polling would continue to decline, suggesting that the Democrats would have an easy time if he were the Republican candidate.
Trump’s recent rise in the polls and DeSantis’ interpretation of it has injected a new dynamism into the 2023 presidential campaign. Whether this trend can be attributed to the supposed indictment “sympathy” or the persistent popularity of Donald Trump is a question that can only be answered by the voters themselves.
As the campaign unfolds, the American public will be keeping a close eye on this political dance between two of the most prominent figures in the GOP.
