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Donald Trump's vast lead in the GOP presidential primary has fallen slightly compared to a survey from June.
According to a July YouGov/Economist poll of 549 Republicans and independents who lean Republican, a total of 49 percent want the former president to be the GOP's nomination in 2024, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis a distant second on 20 percent—a 29-point lead for Trump.
The results show that Trump's lead has decreased slightly from another YouGov/Economist poll in June, although the former president is still the clear favorite to clinch the presidential nomination next year.
The results arrive as DeSantis has been repeatedly questioned on why his campaign for president is struggling to gain momentum, especially while the former president faces a string of legal difficulties and criminal trials.
The June survey showed that Trump had a 31-point lead over DeSantis in the GOP primary (51 to 20 percent), with no other Republican candidate in the crowded field, such as former vice president Mike Pence or former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, getting more than 4 percent.
Trump's lead in the GOP primary has also fallen slightly between the two polls when broken down into just registered Republican or Republican-leaning independent voters.
In the July poll of 502 registered voters, 48 percent said Trump was their preferred 2024 GOP candidate, with DeSantis 26 points behind on 22 percent. In June, Trump's lead over DeSantis with registered GOP voters was 30 points (51 to 21 percent).
Trump has often cited DeSantis' struggling poll numbers to brush aside any suggestion that the Florida governor should be the one to lead the GOP into the 2024 election.
"If they don't like Ron DeSanctimonious now, they won't like him any better 6 months from now with the start of 'Primary Season,'" Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday. "The more people get to know him, the lower go his polls. He is now in the mid-teens, and falling fast!"
Trump also frequently shares poll results from national and state-wide GOP presidential primary surveys that show him with a vast lead over DeSantis on his social media platform.
DeSantis was recently grilled by Fox News' Will Cain on why the 2024 hopeful's presidential campaign has not yet "connected" with voters on a national scale.
In response, DeSantis noted that his team and the pro-DeSantis Super PAC Never Back Down has raised more than $150 million in political funding since his presidential campaign officially launched in late May to highlight his popularity in the still early GOP primary run.
"We're in the process of building out a great organization, and we're going to be on the ground in all these early states," DeSantis said. "It is three yards and a cloud of dust type situation.
"At the end of the day, nobody has stood up for hardworking Americans more than I have over these last five years, and delivered the level of results that I have," DeSantis added.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more