By Paul Bedard
Call him the flak jacket former president.
Under fire from all corners, Donald Trump continues to tower over his Republican challengers.
In a new Morning Consult survey, Trump has expanded his lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), his top challenger, to 38 percentage points. The survey shows a recent uptick for Trump and a slump for DeSantis.
Voters, especially independents, have indicated they are looking for a new face, and the survey suggested that businessman Vivek Ramaswamy might fill that role. He has gone from 0% support to 6%, placing him fourth and behind former Vice President Mike Pence, stuck at 7%.
“Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is backed by 6% of potential GOP primary voters, his best showing in Morning Consult surveys so far following a steady improvement over the past week. Ramaswamy has seen a recent uptick in our buzz metric: 46% of potential GOP primary voters reported hearing something about him over the past week, up from 33% the week before,” read the survey analysis.
The new poll also shows that Trump is leading President Joe Biden, 44%-41%. That is his biggest lead over Biden since the poll started measuring a Trump-Biden head-to-head race in December. Most polls have shown a tight race between Biden and Trump.
