By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A surprising Rasmussen survey released Wednesday said, “in a matchup against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, 51% of Likely U.S. voters would vote for the Trump-DeSantis ticket, compared to 43% for Biden-Harris.”
Rasmussen did the online survey with Political Media, Inc. It was conducted April 27-May 2 with a margin of sampling error of +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
According to the veteran polling firm, “Trump’s eight-point advantage with DeSantis as his running mate is outside the margin of error. In a head-to-head matchup without consideration of vice-presidential candidates, Trump is below 50% and leads Biden by six points, 47% to 41%.”
“Trump/DeSantis wins with women, independents, Hispanics and college grads and does historically well with African Americans,” said Larry Ward, President of Political Media, Inc., in a prepared statement. “Trump/DeSantis also wins the national popular vote, which would be a first for Republicans in 20 years. Trump does well head-to-head against Biden, but adding DeSantis to the ticket is powerful.”
The likelihood of a Trump-DeSantis ticket in 2024 is probably nil, but when it comes to one of the core issues among conservatives, it would be formidable, and possibly invincible. Trump is recalled as the only president in recent memory who always mentioned protecting the Second Amendment in his rally speeches. He filled some 300 federal court vacancies with conservative judges and three Supreme Court justices, whose presence on the high court resulted in a 6-3 ruling last June which makes it tougher for courts to perpetuate many restrictive gun laws.
DeSantis is the governor who signed permitless carry in Florida.
According to Rasmussen, “With DeSantis as his running mate against Biden-Harris in 2024, Trump would get support from 87% of Republicans, 15% of Democrats and 54% of voters unaffiliated with either major party. The addition of DeSantis adds four points to Trump’s support among Republicans and five points among unaffiliated voters, as compared to his results in a pairing against Biden without mention of running mates.”
An Associated Press report said Trump “has opened up a 36% lead” on DeSantis in a new Republican presidential poll conducted by CBS News/YouGov. This survey, the AP reported, “puts Trump’s support at 58% of GOP voters compared to just 22% for DeSantis.”
The survey also offered a look at other presidential hopefuls. Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy “has made a surprisingly strong run and is just behind (former Vice President Mike) Pence with 5%,” the report said. Meanwhile, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has 4%, ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie garners 2% while right wing radio host Larry Elder has 2%. Tim Scott and Asa Hutchinson are polling at just 1%, the report said.
