Having previously been touted as the GOP’s next presidential hopeful, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis‘ White House bid has been floundering over the past few months, with even Republican figures casting doubt on the future of his campaign.
In late 2022, DeSantis was seen as the ready-made replacement for Donald Trump to lead the Republican party at the 2024 Election. The former president was widely blamed, including by those in the GOP, for the party’s poor midterm performance, and continues to face prosecution in a string of criminal investigations.
However, DeSantis has failed to take advantage of Trump getting indicted in both the New York falsifying business records case and Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s classified documents investigation, where the former president has denied 37 charges respectively. DeSantis has not made any traction in the GOP primary polls while also seeing his favorability rating plummet.
Just 35.9 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of DeSantis, compared to 45.2 percent who say they view him unfavorably as of June 29, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average tracker, although experts point out the campaign is still in its early stages.
DeSantis’s unfavorable rating among potential voters has been steadily rising since late March, when he recorded a split 39.3 percent favorable rating. This includes the time after he confirmed his 2024 bid in late May in an error-strewn Twitter Space online announcement.
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