Republicans prefer DeSantis over Trump for President

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Republicans and independents more aligned with Republicans seem to prefer Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the top names that come up in the conversation about GOP presidential candidates, over former President Donald Trump, a poll released on Friday showed.

The YouGov survey found that 42% of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents and Republican-leaning independents said they would prefer DeSantis over Trump to run in 2024. Only 35% said they would prefer Trump over the Florida governor.

Read next: Trump still set to announce 2024 bid to run for presidency

Respondents that say they fell into the "strong Republicans" category were more likely to support a third presidential run for Trump (45%) over DeSantis, the Florida governor that won his reelection on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 43% of that same category said they would prefer DeSantis.

However, Republican-leaning independents preferred DeSantis over the former president (45%), while only 21% said they preferred Trump.

38% of "not very strong Republican" respondents said they would rather see DeSantis as President while only 31% said they would prefer Trump as president.

The poll results came in light of tensions between DeSantis and Trump after the governor won the race for governor by a landslide.

Trump warned DeSantis against making a bid for the White House in the upcoming 2024 presidential elections on Tuesday, saying it would be bad for the GOP.

"I don't know if he is running. I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly," Trump said during an interview with Fox News following a rally in Ohio.

Trump underlined that would be making a "mistake" by running, saying that the "base" would not like his bid. "I don't think it would be good for the party."

"Any of that stuff is not good. You have other people that possibly will run, I guess," Trump stressed. "I don't know if he runs. If he runs, he runs."

If Trump were to face off against the Florida governor in the Republican primary ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, the former President suggested that he would use unflattering information about his GOP opponent in a bid to undermine the prospect of his reelection.

Despite the staunch enmity when it comes to the White House bid, Trump announced earlier on Tuesday that he cast his ballot in favor of DeSantis in the state's race for governor.

When asked "Did you vote for Gov. DeSantis?" by a reporter on Tuesday, Trump responded, "Yes I did," as he left a polling place in Palm Beach, Florida, with former first lady Melania Trump.

On Monday, Trump was on the verge of announcing his decision to run for president again at a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio.

"I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach Florida. We want nothing to detract from the importance of tomorrow," he added.

Just two days earlier, Trump openly mocked DeSantis during a rally held in Pennsylvania, calling the governor "Ron DeSanctimonious."

The following day, he told supporters in Miami to vote for DeSantis. 

"No matter who you vote for, you have to vote," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.