Never Trumpers get ‘brutal wake-up call’ as Republican candidates flounder

With the first caucuses six months away, the former president's campaign is still going strong despite his various legal problems

For Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, there were boos and chants of Trump! Trump!". For Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami, there were jeers and cries of Traitor!" And perhaps most tellingly, there was no Florida governor Ron DeSantis at all.

The recent Turning Point USA conference brought thousands of young conservatives to Florida and there was no doubting the main attraction: former president Donald Trump, who made a glitzy entrance accompanied by giant stage sparklers. In a less than rigorous poll, 86% of attendees gave Trump as their first choice for president; DeSantis, who polled 19% last year, was down to 4%.