Former President Donald Trump has opened up a gaping lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among Republican presidential primary voters.
Rallying behind Trump amid his growing legal woes, 54% of GOP voters surveyed told a Fox News poll they support the former president, more than double the 24% who backed DeSantis.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley trailed far behind in single digits.
Trump crowed over the results, which he suggested showed his nasty attacks on DeSantis are working to turn GOP voters against him.
“The just released FoxNews Polling ... shows (DeSantis) being absolutely CRUSHED and, more importantly, dropping like a ROCK!” Trump wrote on his social media site.
Just last month, Trump led DeSantis by a much-smaller 43%-to-28% margin in a similar Fox poll, with others far behind.
DeSantis has not announced whether he will run for the White House, although aides say he plans an announcement later in the spring.
The Florida governor has faltered a bit as he tiptoes onto the national GOP stage. He recently downplayed the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” and criticized U.S. military aid even though he had previously criticized Democrats for being too soft on helping Kyiv.
Trump has enjoyed growing approval with Republicans as the legal noose tightens around him on several investigative fronts, particularly the Stormy Daniels hush money probe.
Most GOP voters and leaders, including many Trump critics, have criticized the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a partisan witch hunt.
Republicans also rallied around Trump after the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago resort home last summer, although some took a measured tack after details surfaced about his efforts to defy government efforts to get him to return classified documents.
A separate Quinnipiac University poll this week found Republicans by a more than 3-1 margin say Trump shouldn’t be swayed by a criminal indictment from running for the White House.
Among all voters, Americans by a 57%-to-38% margin say Trump should not run if he is charged.
