Only 55% want Trump as 2024 Republican candidate, CPAC straw poll says

‘It is either President Trump or a Trump candidate,’ pollster Jim McLaughlin says

Former President Donald Trump won just over half of republican support in a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll over the weekend.

In the poll on Sunday, 55 per cent of respondents said they would vote for him in a hypothetical 2024 primary.

A further 21 per cent said they’d vote for Florida Gov Ron DeSantis while four per cent said they’d elect for South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem.

Sixty-eight per cent of participants said in a separate poll that they would like to see Mr Trump run for president again in 2024, with 15 per cent saying they definitely would not.

The straw polls, conducted by secret ballot, reflect the views of those attending the conservative conference including current and former elected officials, activists, writers.

Among a list of candidates excluding Mr Trump from the running, Mr DeSantis won a wide lead with 43 per cent of the vote.

Ms Noem was runner up in that survey, with 11 per cent of voting share, with Donald Trump Jr, the president’s oldest son, three points behind at eight per cent.

“So again you see how important to everybody here, the grassroots, the base of the conservative movement, the base of the Republican Party, it is either President Trump or a Trump candidate,” pollster Jim McLaughlin said while announcing the results.

Mr McLaughlin, a pollster for Mr Trump, conducted the survey for CPAC, which took place from Thursday to Sunday last week.

The final poll included in the presentation showed 97 per cent of respondents approved of Mr Trump’s track record as president, with 87 per cent saying they strongly approved.

The results came on Sunday ahead of Mr Trump’s speech, marking his first major appearance since Joe Biden took over the presidency and following the former president’s historic second impeachment trial.