Governor Ron DeSantis poses a bigger threat to President Joe Biden in 2024 than Donald Trump, according to a new survey.
Biden would beat both Republican contenders, the Marquette Law School poll found, but his lead is smaller against the Florida governor.
The survey asked 1,000 adults how they would vote if the 2024 presidential election were being held on that day.
If 2024 is a rerun of the 2020 election, Biden has 43 percent support, with Trump on 33 percent, according to the poll. Another 16 percent said they would vote for someone else and 6 percent said they wouldn't vote.
In a Biden-DeSantis matchup, the president's lead slips to 8 percentage points. Marquette recorded support of 41 percent for Biden and 33 percent for DeSantis. The "someone else" figure rose to 18 percent and 8 percent of respondents said they would not vote.
The poll was conducted from January 10 to 21 and has a margin of error of +/-4 percent.
Marquette also asked respondents if they wanted to see former President Trump run again in 2024 and found that the prospect of a third Trump campaign was unpopular.
Just 29 percent said they wanted to see Trump run in 2024, while 71 percent said they did not. This view appeared to be reflected in a question about Trump's favorability.
Only 32 percent of respondents had a favorable opinion of the former president, while 67 percent held an unfavorable view of him. One percent said they hadn't heard enough about him.
Biden's favorability stood at 45 percent. Another 51 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view and 4 percent said they hadn't heard enough about the president.
When asked about DeSantis, however, 44 percent said they hadn't heard enough about him to form an opinion. Just 22 percent had a favorable opinion of the Republican governor and 34 percent had an unfavorable opinion.
Trump and DeSantis are widely considered the strongest contenders for the 2024 Republican nomination, though the former president remains the favorite among most GOP voters.
The Marquette Law School poll follows reports of a "feud" between Trump and DeSantis. Both sides have denied there is any animosity between the men, however, blaming the media for the speculation.
Trump has repeatedly hinted that he will announce another run at the White House, possibly after the November midterm elections. Although DeSantis has been touted as a potential Trump rival, the governor has frequently said he's focused on his own re-election bid this year.
Biden has committed to running for a second term in 2024 and recently said Vice President Kamala Harris would be his running mate. It remains unclear who might join a Trump or DeSantis campaign in the VP slot, or if the two Republicans could run on the same ticket.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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