Supporters of Ron DeSantis explained this week why they were backing the Florida governor as the GOP candidate for president: he can win against President Joe Biden in 2024.
“I just think he is more like we have a chance to [beat] the Democratic candidate,” a voter named Mario said Friday during a rally in Greenville, South Carolina.
“I support Donald Trump, but I just think that DeSantis is more appealing to the middle ground. So I think that’s why he has a better chance of winning.”
Another voter told Fox News that DeSantis will “back the American people and get the country back on track, as Trump did years ago.”
“But sometimes it’s time for you to have somebody new, and I think DeSantis is the one,” said the voter, named Sarah.
Another voter identified as Tammy said DeSantis was “the man.”
“He represents my values. He’s conservative. He’s common sense. He doesn’t back down in the face of wokeness going on, especially in the schools. He’s protecting kids against this radical ideology, which I’m all for. Yeah, he just represents everything that I am as a conservative,” she said.
The polls for DeSantis have so far not been as rosy.
A Yahoo News/YouGov survey this week found Trump leading DeSantis by 28 percentage points among likely GOP primary voters — 53% to 25%.