Trump nearly doubles lead over DeSantis after series of accusations: poll

Former President Donald Trump has nearly doubled his lead over Florida Governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis with Republican voters in recent months, according to a new report. the wall street journal survey.

Trump has mostly enjoyed a double-digit lead over DeSantis and the rest of the GOP pack in recent months. Even after dropping to his lowest level of support in a recent Emerson College poll, which has been tracking the 2024 election since last summer, the former president was still backed by 50% of Republican voters, holding a 38-point lead over the governor of Florida. .

Meanwhile, Trump was charged and arrested, then released on $200,000 bond in August over allegations he broke the law by trying to overturn the result of Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. The former president has strongly denied any wrongdoing in the matter, saying the allegations against him amount to a “witch hunt” and “election interference”.

He also pleaded not guilty to a series of charges in other indictments related to allegations he orchestrated the payment of secret money to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. , mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House and illegally trying to block Joe. Biden’s 2020 election victory nationwide led to the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021. No previous US president has ever been charged with a criminal offense.

According to the wall street journal According to a poll released Saturday, Trump is the first choice of 59 percent of GOP voters, while DeSantis mustered 13 percent, up from 24 percent in the April voter poll.

Asked about Trump’s indictments, more than 60% of Republican Party voters said each indictment was politically motivated and baseless. Some 78% said Trump’s actions after the 2020 election were legitimate efforts to ensure an accurate vote, while 16% said the former president illegally tried to block Congress from certifying an election that he had lost. The poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, surveyed 600 Republican primary voters and was conducted between August 24 and 30.

Political analyst Craig Agranoff said News week On Saturday, even though Trump may have a sizable lead over DeSantis, “it’s still early in the race and anything can happen.”

“DeSantis is a popular and rising star in the Republican Party, and he has a strong base of support. If he can continue to gain momentum, he might still have a shot at winning the nomination, even if at As we get closer, that will seem unlikely with Trump still in the running,” Agranoff said.

In response to the new poll, Taylor Budowich, the founder of MAGA Inc., took to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. and writes“What will escape most casual observers is that the period between these two WSJ polls was full of DeSantis-promised turnaround moments…”

He continued, “End of his great legislative session, his announcement, DeSantis on the campaign trail, Casey on the campaign trail, campaign reset #1, reset #2, reset #3, the debate and a hurricane that his campaign tried to cause ‘spin’ for political gain. Instead of a reversal, the results are complete collapse and failure…”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, also reacted to the poll on X and wrote “Winning”.

News week contacted the DeSanits campaign via email for comment.