Former President Donald Trump confirmed news that he plans to launch his own social media platform in the near future and he named several Republicans that conservatives should keep their eye on as potential 2024 presidential candidates.

Trump confirmed the clam made to Fox News on Sunday by one of his advisers that he was creating “the hottest ticket in social media” that is going to “completely redefine the game.”

In a podcast interview, Trump told “The Truth with Lisa Boothe” with iHeart Radio and “Gingrich 360” that he is “doing things having to do with putting our own platform out there” that will be coming out “soon.”

When asked about 2024 and viable Republican presidential candidates, Trump said people should keep an eye on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Sens. Ted Cruz (TX), Rand Paul (KY) and Josh Hawley (MO), among “others.”

Trump specifically referenced a straw poll that was conducted this year at CPAC that surveyed attendees on a wide range of issues.

The most noteworthy results from the poll included:

Thinking ahead, if the 2024 Republican primary for president in your state were held today among the following candidates, for whom would you vote?

1. Donald Trump – 55%
2. Ron DeSantis – 21%
3. Kristi Noem – 4%
4. Nikki Haley – 3%
5. Mike Pompeo – 2%

Now among a different list of candidates, which does not include Trump, if the 2024 Republican primary for president in your state were held today, for whom would you vote?

1. Ron DeSantis – 43%
2. Kristi Noem – 11%
3. Donald Trump Jr. – 8%
4. Mike Pompeo – 7%
5. Ted Cruz – 7%

“I mean, you know, there’s a, there’s a pretty deep bench,” Trump added. “I’ll make that decision sometime later, but there’s a pretty deep bench. If you look at the polls, they love the job that I’ve done. We had a 97 percent approval at C-PAC, a 97 percent approval on policies and different things.”

DeSantis is increasingly discussed as the emerging star of the Republican Party after the way that he navigated Florida throughout the coronavirus pandemic, which included outperforming many Democrat states that used strict lockdowns while he kept his state largely open.

Joe Gruters, a Florida state senator and chairman of the state Republican Party, said of DeSantis, “I think he’s the odds-on favorite to be the next president.”

Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s chief pollster in 2016 and 2020, said of DeSantis:

When you look under the hood of those numbers, DeSantis garners a lot of support from Trump voters in the absence of Trump. As the media beat him up as the anti-Cuomo and DeSantis stood up for himself, voters liked that. They associate that type of scrappiness and speaking your mind with President Trump. He is inheriting a lot of that.

DeSantis has had very high poll numbers in the past with nearly every key demographic of voter and appears to appeal to both the Trump-wing of the GOP and he appeals to the establishment-wing of the party.

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