Trump Pollster Says He’d Lose Swing Districts to Biden, Perform 8 Points Worse Than DeSantis With Independents
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
A new survey conducted by Tony Fabrizio, a longtime pollster for Donald Trump, and Democratic pollster John Anzalone in the 40 most closely-contested congressional districts show Trump trailing and Ron DeSantis drawing even with President Joe Biden.
According to the survey, which was conducted on behalf of the AARP, 47 percent of voters would cast their ballot for Biden and 43 percent would support Trump in a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.
Both Biden and DeSantis would have the support of 45% of the electorate if the latter were to win the Republican nomination.
The difference between Trump and DeSantis is particularly stark with independent voters. While Biden would boast a 6-point advantage with them if Trump were the GOP nominee, DeSantis would carry them by two points. The Florida governor also hods advantages over Trump with men, women, blacks, whites, Hispanics, as well as voters with and without 4-year college degrees.
Republicans’ candidate selection could be decisive up and down the ballot in 2024. Despite Biden’s dismal approval rating, most polls show him besting Trump. A Monmouth University survey released on Thursday suggested that Biden would easily dispatch of Trump, even if Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) mounted a third-party bid for the White House.
Last month, Axios reported that Fabrizio was “telling GOP donors that it’s a ‘myth’ that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is more electable than the former president.”
In a leaked memo, Fabrizio argued that DeSantis’s advantages collapses “when Swing State voters learn about certain DeSantis positions,” most notably his desire to reform Social Security and Medicare, the education reforms characterized by Democrats as “book bans”, and his support for a national sales tax to replace income tax.
Fabrizio also called DeSantis’s support for a 6-week abortion ban and his feud with Disney “electorally fatal.”
The pollster worked on both of Trump’s prior presidential campaigns and is now working for a super PAC supporting his third.
