Trump, who claims the arrest is imminent, beats DeSantis in the 2024 poll

Donald Trump beat Gov. Ron DeSantis among Republican primary voters in a poll released Tuesday that shows the former president received a surge in support over the weekend when he claimed he would be arrested by the Manhattan DA.

Trump leads DeSantis 54% to 26% as the Florida governor, who has yet to officially announce a 2024 presidential nomination but is expected to be a leading contender, posted his lowest level of support since last December in the poll for tracking Morning Consult survey.

Conducted between Friday and Sunday, it included two of the days Trump began posting a series of messages on his Truth Social platform that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued him on Tuesday for a $130,000 hush money payment would arrest porn star Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 election.

“THE LEADING REPUBLIC CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE ARRESTED TUESDAY NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE BACK OUR NATION!” Trump wrote in an all-caps message to his supporters on Saturday.

The former president has in his attacks on Bragg, Michael Cohen – his former attorney and former “fixer” who became a critical witness by repeatedly testifying before the Manhattan grand jury investigating the payment – the justice system and Daniels , not subsided.

Cohen paid Daniels the $130,000 to keep her from going public ahead of the election over a sexual encounter she allegedly had with Trump in 2006, an affair he denies.

The poll appears to show Trump’s tirades about investigating the Make America Great Again crowd could be paying off.

While DeSantis falls behind in the poll, Trump has been on the upswing since his first posts.

On Friday, Trump led DeSantis with 51% to 29%.

By Saturday, the day of Trump’s first contributions to the indictment, Trump had widened his lead to 52-28 percent and on Sunday from 54-26 percent.

DeSantis was the first second pick by Republican voters for president, beating former Vice President Mike Pence by 46 percent to 17 percent.

The rest of the Republican field lagged far behind Trump and DeSantis.

Pence was closest at 7%, followed by former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at 4% and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney at 3%.

They were followed by a slew of hopefuls at 1% — including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott , and technology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

The poll brought some promising news for DeSantis, as 44% of Republican primary voters say they’ve seen, heard, or read something positive about him, compared to Trump’s 38%.

The former president and his allies have not taken their foot off the gas since Trump began the post on Saturday.

He accused Bragg of “prosecutorial misconduct”, claimed he was the victim of a “Stormy ‘Horse Face’ Daniels racketeering scheme” and urged his supporters across the country to “protest to take back our nation” if he is arrested.