Trump's Lead Among Republican Voters Grows After Fourth Indictment, DeSantis Losing Support

A new poll leading up to the 2024 presidential election reveals the lead of former President Donald Trump has grown over other Republican contenders.

What Happened: Trump has enjoyed strong leads in recent election polls among Republican voters ahead of the 2024 election. The former president’s support grew in the latest poll, which came after a fourth indictment was announced against Trump.

Even with four indictments and federal charges against the former president, Trump has shown a strong lead among Republican voters in a leading national poll.

The latest weekly election poll of GOP voters by Morning Consult shows Trump with a 44-point lead, topping the 41-point lead from last week and the 43-point lead he maintained for three straight weeks prior to last week.

Here’s a look at who Republican voters would vote for today, with the previous percentage from last week in parentheses.

• Donald Trump: 58% (57%)
• Ron DeSantis: 14% (16%)
• Vivek Ramaswamy: 10% (9%)
• Mike Pence: 6% (7%)
• Nikki Haley: 3% (3%)
• Tim Scott: 3% (3%)
• Chris Christie: 3% (3%)

Related Link: Trump Leads In New Iowa Poll, Yet National Surveys Differ: Debate Concern?

Why It’s Important: The latest national poll could show the strength of Trump and prove as a warning to other candidates. The 44-point lead is one of the largest leads seen since polling began in December 2022.

The support for DeSantis at 14% is also one of the lowest figures the Florida governor has gotten since polling began. The drop comes after DeSantis had picked up more support and was at 16% of the vote for two straight weeks after hitting record lows.

Benzinga also recently reported that an Emerson College poll saw Christie ranking ahead of DeSantis among Republican voters polled.

Ramaswamy ranks third and ties his all-time high support in the poll at 10% since he officially announced his campaign.

Among voters who select Trump first, 33% chose DeSantis as their next selection, while Ramaswamy was selected by 23%. Last week’s poll saw 36% select DeSantis and 23% select Ramaswamy.

Of voters who support DeSantis, 38% selected Trump as their next selection, 19% chose Ramaswamy and 15% picked Pence. In the prior week, 37% selected Trump, 21% picked Ramaswamy and 14% picked Pence.

Ramaswamy has been trending higher in recent polls and also ranking strong among Republican voters in terms of favorability and positive news flow.

The biotech entrepreneur has a favorability rating of 55%, trailing only Trump (76%) and DeSantis (62%). Ramaswamy’s net favorable rating of +43 passed that of DeSantis (+39) for the first time since polling began. The 12% unfavorable rating of Ramaswamy is one of the lowest among Republican candidates, and significantly lower than those of Trump (23%) and DeSantis (23%).

Ramaswamy also dominated the list of how likely voters were of hearing something positive versus negative in recent weeks, with 39% saying they heard something positive and only 8% saying they heard something negative.

There are high expectations for Ramaswamy in the first Republican primary debate, according to a recent Morning Consult poll.

The first Republican primary debate will be shown on Fox News, a unit of Fox Corporation FOXFOXA and livestreamed on Rumble Inc RUM.

Trump recently announced he will be sitting out the first debate of Republican candidates, leaving voters to favor Ramaswamy and DeSantis as the potential winners from the debate.

Read Next: 2024 Election Betting Odds: Biden The Favorite, Ramaswamy And Kennedy Jr Surge Up List

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