Trump 'Scared Of Being Left For Dead' By GOP, Rejects Polls Showing DeSantis Lead

A Republican donor believes that former President Donald Trump is "increasingly scared of being left for dead" by the GOP, as more polls show his crumbling support within the party.

Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor and a supporter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said he believes Trump will not let DeSantis win the Republican nomination easily, suggesting that it could lead to a "civil war" within the party.

"DeSantis is rising, and Trump is increasingly scared of being left for dead by the Republican Party," Eberhart said, NBC News reported.

"Trump is not going to let DeSantis grab his throne without a fight. We are on the eve of nothing less than a civil war in the Republican Party," he added.

Trump lashing out against surveys appeared to signal that the former president is alarmed that more Republicans are abandoning his 2024 presidential bid.

The former president posted on his Truth Social platform his criticism of recent polls showing DeSantis defeating him in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

"Great polling has just come out on me versus various others, including [President Joe] Biden, but I still have to put up with the same old 'stuff' from The Wall Street Journal, which has lost an incalculable amount of influence over the years, and Fox News, whose polls on me have been seriously WRONG from the day I came down the escalator in Trump Tower," Trump said.

A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal and released Wednesday showed DeSantis beating Trump 52% to 38%.

Another poll from the USA Today and Suffolk University showed DeSantis leading Trump by double-digits, 56% to 33%.

But Trump may still have a fighting chance in a crowded GOP primary, as a Politico/Morning Consult poll placed him over the top with 45%, compared to 30% for DeSantis, 7% for former Vice President Mike Pence, and the rest divided among a dozen other potential contenders.

An unnamed Republican strategist who worked on Trump's 2020 reelection campaign told NBC News that DeSantis' early lead in the polls might disappear quickly, just like what happened to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the 2012 GOP primary race.

The GOP strategist said the Florida governor is in "a very good place" at this moment, but he may not be able to "harness that energy" in the future.

The strategist added that DeSantis' perseverance to withstand Trump's brutal attacks remains to be seen.

In recent weeks, DeSantis made several overtures that appeared to pander to the Republican base.

DeSantis said Tuesday that he would petition the Florida Supreme Court to establish a grand jury investigating the COVID-19 vaccines.

The Florida governor also questioned the recently-signed Respect for Marriage Act, saying there was "certainly no need" to pass a federal law protecting same-sex and interracial marriages.