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Support for former President Donald Trump is falling, especially among Fox News viewers, who are increasingly warming up to the idea of a 2024 presidential run by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Among voters who cite Fox News as their most-trusted TV news channel, 61 percent said they want DeSantis to be the 2024 Republican nominee, according to a new USAToday/Suffolk poll released Tuesday. Just 31 percent picked Trump.
Although Trump's relationship with Fox News has long been complicated, the network was instrumental in helping him gain visibility during his 2016 campaign. After Trump won the presidential election, it appeared the two became bound in a media marriage in which Trump would promote Fox and Fox would promote Trump.
However, much of that has changed. Over the summer, Trump blasted Fox and Friends for going to the "dark side" for allegedly botching his poll numbers. As results of the midterm elections came in, Fox anchors questioned Trump's future in the GOP. During Trump's official 2024 announcement, the network cut away from his speech, saying it would return "when news warrants."
At the same time, the network has seemed to embrace DeSantis, who won handily in the midterms, which were disappointing for the GOP.
"Let us hope that the millions of Americans who have supported Trump in 2016 and again in 2020 begin to see that his time has passed," conservative commentator Liz Peek wrote in an opinion column for Fox News. "If they like his policies, they need to move their allegiance to Ron DeSantis, who has never lost a campaign, and who emerged the big winner in these midterms."
Peek's observation seemed to be reflected among GOP voters. Tuesday's poll found that the majority of conservatives want Trump's policies but under a different candidate.
Although Trump did better among conservative voters than among Fox News viewers, DeSantis still prevailed with 54 percent support to Trump's 36 percent.
When paired with President Joe Biden in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, 92 percent of Fox viewers said they'd vote for DeSantis if he ran against Biden. Comparably, 84 percent said they'd vote for Trump.
The survey also found that two-thirds of Americans don't want Trump or Biden to run in the next presidential election.
Republican strategist Jay Townsend told Newsweek that the troubling poll figures reveal the one setback Trump cannot overcome. He said that "losing his base and ultimately losing at the ballot box" might be the one problem that could "prove politically fatal" for Trump.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more