As the Republican Party debates whether or not to continue embracing former President Donald Trump, attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) say they would support him in the party’s 2024 presidential primary.
The results of CPAC’s straw poll were released on Sunday, which found that 55% of respondents say they would vote for Trump in the 2024 Republican primary.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came in second with 21%, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) came in third with 4%.
Watch the video below:
Watch @JMcLaughlinSTK announce the results of the #CPAC2021 Straw Poll. #AmericaUnCanceled pic.twitter.com/8TuN2bjXjm
— CPAC 2021 (@CPAC) February 28, 2021
Pollster Jim McLaughlin announced the results as he said, “I think unfortunately this poll is probably going to trigger a lot of the media again.”
Applause broke out as he announced that Trump was the front runner for the nomination.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they want Trump to run again. And 95% said they want the Republican Party to work to advance the policies espoused by Trump.
The straw poll found that if Trump did not run again, 43% of respondents would vote for DeSantis, and 11% would vote for Noem.
Eight percent of respondents said they would vote for Donald Trump Jr., and seven percent said they would vote for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump was scheduled to speak at the conservative gathering on Sunday, where he was expected to “talk about the future –the future of our movement, the future of our party, and the future of our beloved country.”
“The Republican Party is united. The only division is between a handful of Washington D.C. establishment political hacks, and everybody else all over the country,” Trump will say in his speech, according to an excerpt.