WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Nearly half of Republican voters say they will cast a ballot for someone other than former president Donald Trump in the 2024 election, a sign of a tough primary contest if he decides to run for his old job following his extraordinary attempt to overturn his loss in 2020.
Mr Trump remains the leading candidate in a hypothetical race against five other possible opponents in a New York Times/Siena College poll, with 49 per cent of primary voters saying they would support him.
But 46 per cent say they will vote for one of the others. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis emerged as the top rival, with 25 per cent support, the only other one to reach double digits.
As Mr Trump considers whether to launch an early bid for the White House, the survey indicates that his efforts to maintain an iron grip on the Republican Party have instead exposed divisions.
Majorities of young voters, as well as those with college degrees, said they would vote against Mr Trump in a presidential primary. Mr DeSantis was the top choice of those groups.
Just hours after the poll was published, Mr Trump released a statement slamming the New York Times as "Fake News".
"Fake polls, phony stories, and made up quotes - they are a disgrace to journalism and have set it back many many years. THE NEW YORK TIMES IS TRULY THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!," he wrote.
Mr Trump has spent much of the past 18 months focused on political retribution against those in his own party who did not back his attempts to undermine the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
Three quarters of Republican voters said Mr Trump was "just exercising his right to contest the election", but a sizable one in five minority said he "went so far that he threatened America democracy".
Some of the former president's own supporters have explored other candidates. Among those who voted for Mr Trump in 2020, 44 per cent said they had a favourable view of Mr DeSantis - a statistical tie with the 46 per cent who said the same for Mr Trump.
The dynamic is a marked contrast from his presidency, when Mr Trump enjoyed nearly universal support among Republican voters.
The problems within his own party have left Mr Trump in a position to suffer a second consecutive loss against President Joe Biden, whose political standing has taken a beating, the poll suggested.
Mr Biden led Mr Trump 44 to 41 per cent in a hypothetical 2024 rematch, even though the president's approval rating sits at only 33 per cent among voters nationally.
GOP defectors contributed to Mr Trump's disadvantage, with 16 per cent of Republicans saying they would vote for Mr Biden, or a third-party candidate, if Mr Trump won their party's nomination.
Despite those vulnerabilities, Mr Trump retains advantages against his possible rivals. No Republican 2024 hopeful other than Mr DeSantis has significant support among GOP voters, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz garnering 7 per cent, former Vice-President Mike Pence and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley receiving 6 per cent each, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo getting 2 per cent.
Fox News viewers - a key segment of the GOP base - have also remained loyal to Mr Trump. The former president held a 62 to 26 per cent advantage over Mr DeSantis among those viewers.
