Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign slammed former President Donald Trump’s claim on Monday that DeSantis was rumored to be dropping out of the race to challenge a fellow Republican for a U.S. Senate seat, saying that the claim was “fake news.”
“[Rumors] are strong in political circles that Ron DeSanctimonious, whose Presidential run is a shambles, and whose poll numbers have absolutely crashed, putting him 3rd and 4th in some states, will be dropping out of the Presidential race in order to run, in Florida, against Rick Scott for Senate,” Trump wrote. “Now that’s an interesting one, isn’t it?” Trump later deleted and reposted the statement to correct spelling and grammatical issues.
DeSantis Campaign Press Secretary Bryan Griffin responded: “This is fake news. Clearly, Donald Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about @RonDeSantis’ winning debate performance and the strong momentum that has followed.”
“They know this is a two-man race, and we will carry this on to a win in this presidential primary,” he added. “Instead of pushing fake news from New Jersey, the Trump campaign should be focused on getting their candidate on the campaign trail in Iowa and on the debate stage before it’s too late.”
This is fake news. Clearly, Donald Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about @RonDeSantis' winning debate performance and the strong momentum that has followed. They know this is a two-man race, and we will carry this on to a win in this presidential primary. Instead… https://t.co/f4PNHEzHnE
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 28, 2023
DeSantis appears to have benefited from the first GOP primary, which Trump skipped and counter-programmed via an interview with Tucker Carlson. New data from a FiveThirtyEight/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that Republican voters who watched the debate gave DeSantis a slight edge over political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis garnered 29% of the vote while Ramaswamy received 26% and Haley received 15%.
The poll also showed DeSantis gaining ground in total support among those who watched the debate, with those saying they would consider voting for him rising from 63 to 67.5%, while Trump lost ground among debate watchers, from 66.2 to 61.4%.
The Washington Post poll also measured candidates’ favorable and unfavorable ratings among those who tuned into the debate. DeSantis ended the night having the highest overall favorable rating at 72.4% and the highest net favorable rating at 47%. Haley saw her net favorable rating shoot up 13 percentage points from 26% to 39%, while Ramaswamy’s net favorability saw the reverse, losing nine percentage points, going from 37% to 28%. Trump’s dipped from 31% to 24%.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) had the lowest unfavorable rating at 23.2% while DeSantis had the second lowest unfavorable number at 26.8%. Scott had the second best net favorable rating at 42%.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
The latest averages from RealClearPolitics show DeSantis in second place, but Trump with a sizable lead over the rest of the field, topping 50% in most of the polls, with DeSantis ranging from 12 to 18%.