DeSantis Challenged on Trump’s Lead in Polls

Republican presidential candidates former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (L) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participate in the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Fla., on Nov. 8, 2023. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was quickly confronted with a question about former President Donald J. Trump’s significant polling lead during CNN’s town hall.

“What do you consider a winning performance?” one questioner, Curt Ellis of Grimes, Iowa, asked, after noting President Trump’s strength in those surveys.