USA: In the Republican Party's 2024 presidential primary, Donald Trump would have a difficult time defeating Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but other contenders might garner enough support for the former US president to win a majority of delegates in a crowded field, according to a recent Yahoo/YouGov poll released on Wednesday.

According to the poll, DeSantis has a similar lead over Trump as last month, holding a 45% to 41% advantage in the head-to-head contest. However, 11% of voters prefer former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley when she is a choice, effectively splitting the anti-Trump vote and allowing the former president to win by a 38-35 margin over DeSantis. With nine potential candidates in the now larger field, Trump leads the Florida governor by 37-36.

According to numerous polls, Trump has significantly less support from Republican voters since the congressional midterm elections in November, where the candidates he backed performed worse than predicted.

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On the other hand, DeSantis led a Republican ticket in which Florida candidates assisted the GOP win back control of the US House of Representatives. He was re-elected as governor by the state's largest margin in 40 years.

According to a USA Today poll conducted in December, Republican voters prefer someone other than Trump to receive their party's presidential nomination in 2024 by a margin of almost 2-to-1.

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However, even if Trump continues to receive the unwavering support of, let's say, 3 in 10 Republican voters, he could still garner a majority of votes as his rivals vie for the remaining 70% of the vote. A negative outcome like that might ensure that Republicans lose the general election. In a head-to-head rematch of the 2020 election, President Joe Biden leads Trump 46–40, according to additional Yahoo/YouGov polling. DeSantis is trailing the incumbent 44–42.

Based on 49% of respondents viewing him favourably and 38% having an unfavourable view, DeSantis has the highest net favorability of the current top candidates from both parties, at plus 11. Biden is at minus 8, Vice President Kamala Harris is at minus 16, and Trump is at minus 5.

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Trump, who dubbed DeSantis "Ron Desanctimonious," has already started to criticise him. On Tuesday, Trump amplified a post on Truth Social that accused the governor of "grooming high school girls" when he was a teacher, which was the most recent insult. "I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans," DeSantis retorted.