Donald Trump announced his 2024 campaign just after the 2022 midterm elections, but he has yet to have any events or the rallies that have become his signature.
Trump advisers are reportedly scrambling to generate the hefty crowd size that the former president expects, but they're having a difficult time doing it. All of this comes amid Trump losing a key bloc of voters that had been loyal and dedicated to him: anti-choice voters.
Despite the Trump judges striking down the right for an individual to regulate their own healthcare, Rolling Stone is reporting that anti-choice voters are looking to someone else as their top candidate.
The group, "Students For Life," did a straw poll looking at the 2024 candidates that are being rumored, and Donald Trump is not their first choice. In fact, his showing in second place was nothing to celebrate.
Among the 2,000 attendees at a summit of anti-choice activists, it was Gov. Ron DeSantis that won 53.7 percent of the attendees.
"Former President Donald Trump placed in a distant second with just 19.22 percent," said Rolling Stone. "His former deputy, Mike Pence — who has called often for a national ban on abortion — took home roughly eight percent. Those three were followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with 1.57 and 1.37 percent, respectively. Everyone else — Kristi Noem, Greg Abbott, Glenn Youngkin, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan, and Tim Scott, in that order — earned less than one percent of ballots cast. About seven percent of the poll's voters remain undecided on their preferred would-be candidate."
Straw polls are only for those in the room at that time, but the anti-choice activists are considered to be a key base of support among Republican voters.
Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life, told the magazine that in the post-Roe era, "Checking the box and saying you're 'pro-life' isn't sufficient."
It's unclear if that means the anti-choice community will begin work on reducing infant mortality and maternal mortality or advocating for services that help babies once they are born.
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