Since the legal and political drama surrounding Trump's indictment by a Manhattan district attorney, the 45th president has been surging in the polls: He is leading DeSantis by almost 21 points in a RealClearPolitics average of eight polls.
DeSantis, who is popular among Republicans, does not lead Trump in any of the polls. Far behind the Florida governor is Mike Pence, who is in single digits.
Tom Zawistoski, who leads the tea party-affiliated We the People Convention, tells AFN he would advise DeSantis to stay out of the race considering those poll numbers.
"I think it's over. I think it's absolutely over,” Zawistowski insists.
In the shadow of Trump’s news-making arraignment in New York City, Gov. DeSantis delivered a fiery speech April 1 at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, a crowd of elected leaders and grassroots activists, according to a Townhall story.
“We have a responsibility to preserve what the founders of our country called the sacred fire of liberty,” DeSantis said to cheers and applause.
According to the Townhall story, the crowd included many MAGA hat-wearing conservatives who appeared to witness the governor up close for the first time. The crowd included one who fundraised for Trump but will support DeSantis if and when he announces a White House run.
"I'm firmly behind DeSantis from what I saw," the conservative activist, Alex Anastasio, told Townhall. "I don't really believe that there's anybody else out there. I think he's going to do amazingly well.”
Asked by AFN about the Florida governor’s visit to her state, Diane Gramley of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania said DeSantis would be a “good fit” for Republican voters there.
“I think that Governor DeSantis does hold many of the values that conservatives here in Pennsylvania hold,” she says. “He's done a great job in Florida. There's no doubt about that."
No matter who the GOP nominee is, she added, a serious and unresolved issue is voter fraud in the 2024 election.
“Until we get voter integrity back in Pennsylvania,” Gramley warns, “I don't see any GOP presidential candidate winning.”
