and DeSantis sinks
The latest polls show that the Trump jump is real:
Republican primary voters were read a list of 15 announced and potential candidates for the 2024 nomination. The survey, released Wednesday, finds Trump has doubled his lead since February and is up by 30 points over Ron DeSantis (54%-24%). Last month, he was up by 15 (43%-28%).
No one else hits double digits. Mike Pence comes in third with 6%, Liz Cheney and Nikki Haley receive 3% each, and Greg Abbott comes in at 2%. All others receive 1% support or less, and just 3% are unsure.
It’s fair to assume that the talk of his imminent indictment may have helped him with primary voters. They love to rally around the Trump flag. But Quinnipiac also has a new poll out which show this may not be such a great thing in the big picture:
Americans 57 – 38 percent think criminal charges should disqualify former President Donald Trump from running for president again, if charges are filed against him as a result of multiple state and federal criminal investigations, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea-ack) University national poll released today.
Democrats (88 – 9 percent) and independents (55 – 36 percent) think criminal charges should disqualify Trump from running for president again, while Republicans (75 – 23 percent) think criminal charges should not disqualify him from running again.
Americans were asked about the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation of Trump. That investigation involves hush money allegedly paid by Trump to keep quiet an alleged affair with an adult film actress. Among the accusations reportedly being investigated is whether Trump falsified business records to keep the payment concealed, something his lawyers deny. Fifty-five percent think the accusations are either very serious (32 percent) or somewhat serious (23 percent), while 42 percent think the accusations are either not too serious (16 percent) or not serious at all (26 percent).
More than 6 in 10 Americans (62 percent) think the Manhattan District Attorney’s case involving former President Donald Trump is mainly motivated by politics, while 32 percent think the case is mainly motivated by the law.
Republicans (93 – 5 percent) and independents (70 – 26 percent) think the Manhattan District Attorney’s case is mainly motivated by politics, while Democrats (66 – 29 percent) think the case is mainly motivated by the law.
Nearly 7 in 10 Americans (69 percent) think Trump was mainly acting out of concerns for himself when he announced on social media that he was going to be arrested in New York and urged people to protest and “take our nation back,” while nearly one-quarter (24 percent) think he was mainly acting out of concerns about democracy.
More than half of registered voters (58 percent) think Trump has had a mainly negative impact on the Republican party, while 36 percent think he has had a mainly positive impact.
More than 7 in 10 Republican voters (72 percent) think Trump has had a mainly positive impact on their party, while 21 percent think he has had a mainly negative impact.
Six in 10 registered voters (60 percent) do not consider themselves supporters of Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, while 36 percent do.
Nearly 8 in 10 Republican voters (79 percent) consider themselves supporters of the MAGA movement, while 18 percent do not.
Yes, that’s all a bit confusing. But the upshot is not. The GOP still likes Trump and the hardcore base adores him. DeSantis is highly unlikely to dethrone him and nobody else even comes close.