Former President Donald Trump, who today called NATO members “defaulters ,” is the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, according to an informal poll of conservative forum attendees.
59% of those surveyed during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Orlando until yesterday, Sunday, said they would vote for Trump if the Republican Party primaries were held now, according to media such as CNN and CBS.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who came to office supported by Trump and spoke at the forum last Thursday, is second in preferences, with 28%.
But if Trump does not appear in the primary, DeSantis would be the favorite with the support of 61% of the participants in the CPAC, who do not represent the entire electorate of the Republican Party, but those who are more to the right.
In a similar poll conducted by CPAC in July 2021, Trump achieved 71% support and DeSantis only 21%.
A recent poll conducted by the Florida firm St. Pete Polls revealed that 54% of Floridians support the administration of DeSantis, who will seek re-election in this year’s midterm elections, and 38% disapprove.
Among Hispanics, 52% approve and 41% do not, and among African-Americans it enjoys 21% support and 61% rejection.
In his speech this Saturday during the conference, Trump spoke of Ukraine and although he described the offensive launched by Russia against that country as an “atrocity” , he reiterated that if he had been in the White House, Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have daring to do so, because then the US was “strong and “respected”.
Today he insisted on the subject again in a statement.
“I hope everyone can remember that it was I, as president of the United States, who made the defaulting NATO members start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said.
“If NATO did not act firmly and quickly, it would not exist. Besides, it was I who got Ukraine the very effective tank destroyers (Javelins) when the previous administration was sending mantas. Let history record it!” Trump proclaimed.