Donald Trump will smash his Republican rival Ron DeSantis by 15 percent in a landslide Republican primary victory for the former President, a supercomputer has revealed. Sporting Index’s latest spread on the 2024 Grand Old Party (GOP) primary put the 45th POTUS in pole position to retain his conservative crown. The UK-based betting firm suggested Trump would receive 47 percent of the vote, with DeSantis trailing in second on 32 percent.
Neville Burdock, head of sportsbook at Sporting Index, said: “Betting on the White House’s next occupier is very tight, and DeSantis would have to be fancied for winning the Republican nomination but that could be a stumbling block.
“Trump has an unrivalled media profile and, as things stand, he has a 15 percent lead over DeSantis to get the nod to run for President.”
The supercomputer’s prediction is broadly in line with current opinion polls.
The last 10 surveys compiled by FiveThirtyEight for a crowded-field primary contest hand Trump an average advantage of 15.9 percent.
However, recent head-to-head opinion polls suggest the Sunshine State Governor could emerge victorious, with Echelon Insights giving DeSantis a five point lead.
With opinion polls pointing to several possible outcomes, Republican strategists have been cautious about buying too much into predictions so early into the 2024 election cycle.
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GOP fundraiser Noelle Nikpour told Express.co.uk: “It’s way, way too early to predict.”
She added: “Myself and many others continue to doubt a lot of pre-predictions due to getting burned by them year-after-year.
“I’d wait and see how it measures up if and when DeSantis runs.”
Alex Olson, chief strategist on the grassroots Ron to the Rescue campaign, echoed Nikpour’s earliness concerns and suggested momentum could shift behind DeSantis if he officially enters the race.
He said: “I personally take any assumptions, any polling, any predictions with a grain of salt because its way too early, we have a candidate who hasn’t even announced.
“And DeSantis is still performing extremely well as a candidate who hasn’t announced so I think that speaks volumes to his power as a candidate.
“All he has to do is enter the race and then the stars align and we see how it goes from there.”
However, a Trump ally cautioned DeSantis against taking on the former President.
Pastor Mark Burns, an early supporter of the former POTUS, told Express.co.uk: “I am absolutely confident that President Trump would beat Ron DeSantis in a primary.
“It would be foolish for DeSantis to ruin his good reputation just to lose a presidential primary.
“Remember, Florida, the state in which Ron DeSantis is the chief executive, is the state that Trump built. Florida, like South Carolina, is the state of Trump.”
Trump was the first candidate to launch his 2024 White House bid when he addressed supporters at his so-called “big announcement” in Mar-a-Lago last November.
A number of leading GOP figures have been tipped to enter the race but a challenger is yet to put their head above the parapet.
Ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who previously said she would not take on Trump, is poised to launch her bid when she hosts an event in South Carolina on February 15.
But other potential candidates, including DeSantis and ex-Vice President Mike Pence, are reportedly considering throwing their hats into the ring.
