DeSantis leads Biden in two battleground states: poll

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads President Biden in at least two key swing states where former President Donald Trump is trailing the commander-in-chief, according to a new poll. 

The survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies from April 11-13 finds that in a hypothetical matchup between Biden and DeSantis in Arizona and Pennsylvania, the Florida governor would come out on top, whereas Biden would beat Trump in a head-to-head contest in both states. 

In Pennsylvania, DeSantis leads Biden by a 3 point margin, 45% to 42%, while Trump trails the incumbent by 4 points, 42% to 46%. 

The poll also found that in Arizona, DeSantis would beat Biden 48% to 42%, while Trump would narrowly lose to the sitting president 44% to 45%.

In the 2020 contest, Trump lost Arizona to Biden by a miniscule margin of less than 11,000 votes, or 49.39% to 49.01%. 

Pennsylvanians also turned out for Biden, who was born in Scranton, Pa., in the last election, where he beat Trump 50.01% to 48.84%.

Trump, 76, contested the results of both state elections in failed lawsuits. 

The poll bolsters claims from DeSantis allies that the Florida Republican is more electable than Trump in a general election. 

A RealClearPolitics average of polls, however, show that Trump still has a commanding lead over all his potential 2024 GOP rivals, including DeSantis, whom he leads 52.3% to 23.5%. 

Trump, who is facing 34 felony counts in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business related to illegal “catch and kill” payments in a scheme to suppress negative stories about him during the 2016 election, announced his 2024 White House run back in November.

DeSantis is expected to declare his candidacy for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination sometime after the Florida legislative session ends in May. 

The Trump campaign dismissed the poll on Sunday, deriding it as “truly a POS poll.”

“Public Opinion Strategies (POS) tried desperately for days to try to pitch this fake poll to other outlets. But they refused to disclose their ties to other 2024 candidates and would not release their cross tabs (data). Truly a POS poll,” the “Trump War Room” Twitter account posted.

Public Opinion Strategies polled 500 registered voters in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. 

Biden, 80, has said that he intends to run for re-election in 2024 but has yet to officially launch his campaign.