(NewsNation) — The race for the 2024 Republican nomination is heating up as Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis exchange jabs at one another through campaign ads.
Though DeSantis has not yet announced his presidential bid, he is expected to be Trump’s most significant challenger in the GOP.
The super PAC backing DeSantis released its first ad attacking the former president Sunday.
“Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York,” the narrator in the ad says. “So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.”
“Trump should fight Democrats. Not lie about Governor DeSantis,” the ad from super PAC known as Never Back Down concludes. “What happened to Donald Trump?”
The ad comes after weeks of attacks from Trump. Most recently, a super PAC supporting Trump released an ad alleging DeSantis eats pudding with his fingers.
“Ron DeSantis loves sticking his fingers where they don’t belong,” the ad says.
Despite the battle of ads taking place between the top GOP contenders, Trump maintains a sizable lead over DeSantis.
A Morning Consult poll found Trump leads the hypothetical Republican pool with 56% of the vote, followed by DeSantis with only 23%. This marks Trump’s widest lead since Morning Consult started tracking the GOP primaries in December.
Polls show Trump leading among voters with lower incomes and education levels while DeSantis leads among high-income voters with a college degree, Politico reports.
Support and fundraising for the former president was strengthened after his historic indictment last month.
