DeSantis brushes off 2024 polling, suggests Trump only leading because ‘people have not made a decision’

GREENEVILLE, S.C. – Presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., does not think that 2024 polling reflects the current state of the heated GOP race, shaking off recent surveys that show him in 3rd place.

A recent Suffolk University survey for USA Today and the Boston Globe suggested that while former President Donald Trump remains the front-runner in the race, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley now leads DeSantis by 9 percentage points, 19% to 10%.

When asked about recent polling, DeSantis told Fox News Digital that he believes voters are still “on the fence.”

“I don’t think any of it matters,” DeSantis told reporters at a recent campaign event. “You’ve got to put yourself in a position to have the type of infrastructure needed to do well when the voting starts. But what’s going to happen is none of the polls are going to matter when people start voting. That’s what’s going to determine everything.”

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DeSantis also suggested that while Trump maintains a lead in most national surveys, he isn’t banking on the numbers to hold at the polls.

“I think at the end of the day, a majority of people have not made a decision,” the Florida governor told Fox News Digital exclusively during a visit to Greenville, South Carolina. “So if you’re polling someone, and you push them, well if they’re kind of on the fence and they know Trump more than anyone, they’re more likely to do that.”

“If you really pull down, half the electorate is up for grabs in these states, and we’re going to earn the votes in all of those states. We have the organization, we have the work ethic, and we have the message to be able to get it done,” he continued.

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Eight Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., recently voted with House Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Cali. — marking the first time in history a House speaker has been removed from the position.

“It’s not about personalities. I think with me, I’m willing to work with anybody,” DeSantis said when asked who he would prefer to be the elected as the next speaker of the House. “We’ve had enough of D.C. politicians trying to impose their will on us. It’s time we, the people, impose our will on them.”

While he didn’t endorse anyone for the position, DeSantis said that GOP Reps. Chip Roy, Thomas Massie, or Jim Jordan “could do a good job” as the next speaker.

The Florida governor also told Fox that if elected in 2024 his agenda would be to “unify around restoring the American dream.”

“It’s about leadership, and you got to be willing to go in there and do that,” DeSantis said. “Now, in terms of the overall agenda, we can unify around restoring the American dream, around fighting inflation, around energy dominance and independence to lower those gas prices, a strong border policy where we’re going to go after the cartels.”

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“We’re going to make sure that parents have rights in this country again. We’re going to make sure that crime is not infesting the streets of every major city like it is now. So this is an agenda to be able to usher in a revival of the American spirit and to reverse this country’s decline,” DeSantis said.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.