Republicans Hoping to Defeat Trump in 2024 Face Tough Challenge, Poll Shows

MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan said a new poll should be considered “funeral rites” for Republicans hoping to defeat Donald Trump in next year’s presidential primary.

And it’s especially bad news for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been the former president’s chief rival.

“Simply put, it’s done,” Hasan said on Monday evening. “If you had any doubts that this is Trump’s race and Trump’s race to lose, this poll will clear things up for you.”

The New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday shows Trump leading DeSantis by 37 percentage points and ahead by 31 points in a one-on-one matchup. No other candidate pulled more than 3% support. (The poll of 932 likely Republican primary voters was conducted July 23-27. It reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3.96 percentage points.)

DeSantis has made “fighting wokeness” his signature issue, but Hasan noted that Trump polls ahead of him even on that topic.

“Not even close,” Hasan said.

The poll also shows that Trump has sealed his control over the GOP as most Republican voters are unswayed by the criminal charges against the former president.

Overall, just 17% of Republicans polled said they believed Trump had committed a crime. Among “MAGA” Republicans, that number is 0%.

“Oh, it’s not a cult,” Hasan said sarcastically.

See his full analysis below: