American Greatness Poll: Trump Leads DeSantis in Florida

Former President Donald Trump leads potential 2024 challenger Ron DeSantis in DeSantis' home state of Florida by eight percentage points in a hypothetical two-way race, according to a poll released Thursday by American Greatness.

DeSantis has yet to declare his candidacy, but on Tuesday severed his connection to his long-standing state political committee and the millions of dollars it controls, a step he needs to take ahead of a presidential campaign.

Trump backers were at 42% compared to 34% who say they will support DeSantis.

A super PAC supporting DeSantis' widely expected presidential run on Wednesday bashed Trump for his performance at a CNN town hall, saying he was "stuck in the past."

"On the same day Ron DeSantis was assailing Joe Biden's border crisis, Donald Trump was on CNN attacking DeSantis and lying about finishing the border wall," Erin Perrine, communications director for Never Back Down, said in a statement.

"The CNN town hall was, as expected, over an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past. After 76 years, Trump still doesn't know where he stands on important conservative issues like supporting life and the 2nd Amendment. How does that Make America Great Again?"

Chris Jankowski, Never Back Down's CEO, went after Trump and CNN in a statement.

"The Trump town hall on CNN is a true marriage of equals: A candidate who has lost his luster appearing on a network that's lost its ratings. Both ignore a key fact: 2024 isn't 2016. The old gimmicks and tired lines don't work anymore," Jankowski said. "We'd expect this kind of thing out of CNN — but it's stunning to see Donald Trump transform into a made-for-CNN candidate, desperately seeking a national town hall, the most elite of elite forums. After all, in 2016, it was Donald Trump who electroshocked the Republican Party out of its elitism."

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