Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is in a virtual tie with former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to a new poll.

Respondents to the survey, conducted by Carter Wrenn on behalf of estranged former Trump senior official John Bolton’s SuperPAC, were asked “If the next Republican primary for president in your state was held today, and the candidates were Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Josh Hawley, Kristi Noem, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott And Donald Trump for whom would you vote?”

The top two results were separated by a single point — well within the poll’s margin of error — with Trump receiving 26.2 percent support, and DeSantis close behind at 25.2 percent. In a distant third place was former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 7.2 percent.

Bolton issued a statement along with the poll:

These numbers will probably come as a shock to Donald Trump. After 20 years in Afghanistan, it’s clear that Americans are unhappy with leaving as we did. Voters were smart enough to see that President Trump started the withdrawal and legitimized the Taliban through negotiations. They recognize that withdrawal carries more risks for the homeland than keeping a U.S. and NATO military presence in Afghanistan. Biden bears the responsibly for the final embarrassing moments and his corresponding drop in support reflects that, but it’s not lost on anyone that Trump, like Biden, wanted to withdraw and shares the blame for the failure. National security matters to voters, especially when failure leads to greater risks, so you rightly see conservatives quickly considering options other than Donald Trump.

Now, Bolton’s poll did use a narrower “likely voter” model, and the former Trumper-turned-critic has made it his mission to get in Trump’s head, but these results represent a whopping 20-point drop in support for Trump since Bolton’s last poll, in which 46 percent supported Trump. DeSantis was runner-up then, too, at just 13 percent.

And the poll also comes on the heels of another survey in which 61 percent of Republicans said they want Trump to either face a primary challenge in 2024 — or not to run at all.

The post SHOCK POLL: Ron DeSantis in ‘Virtual Tie’ With Trump for 2024 GOP Primary first appeared on Mediaite.

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