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A newly released Emerson poll has former US President Donald Trump leading bigly in the 2024 Republican presidential primary with 62 percent, compared to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 16 percent and former Vice President Mike Pence at 7 percent.
“Trump’s 62% reflects an increase in support for the first time in an Emerson national poll since June 2022, where he has held a consistent 55%. Since the February national poll, DeSantis has lost nine points of support, from 25% to 16%,” an analyst of the poll suggests.
DeSantis was now at +215, Trump at -215, which represents a four point gap in the odds.
The bad news for DeSantis comes just a day after Trump's camp released another scathing commercial ad featuring the Florida Governor in a bad light.
Also on Wednesday, Disney announced a suit against DeSantis claiming the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
The suit was filed just hours after a Disney World oversight board appointed by DeSantis voted to void a deal that gave the company authority over design and construction decisions in its sprawling properties near Orlando.
“Disney regrets that it has come to this,” the case said. “But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
Some in his own party have criticized DeSantis' feud with Disney, calling it a rejection of the small-government tenets of conservatism.
“We are unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state,” said DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske. “This lawsuit is yet another unfortunate example of their hope to undermine the will of the Florida voters and operate outside the bounds of the law.”
DeSantis, who has been traveling throughout Asia with his wife, shrugged off the lawsuit Thursday morning.
"They’re upset because they’re having to live by the same rules as everybody else. They don’t want to pay the same taxes as everybody else and they want to be able to control things without proper oversight,” DeSantis said during a visit to Israel. “The days of putting one company on a pedestal with no accountability are over in the state of Florida.”
Disney is Florida's biggest employer however and the battle continues to draw eyebrows, more so after GOP candidate Nikki Haley suggested her state of South Carolina would welcome the company's theme park with open arms should they choose to relocate.
The amount of jobs that would be lost - nearly 70,000 plus countless others that depend on the theme park in Orlando - would be staggering.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
