Former President Donald Trump received higher positive ratings from Republicans following the recent announcement of a 37-count federal indictment linked to the alleged handling of classified materials. The increased popularity will likely aid the former president in the leadup to the first Republican Party primaries next year.
According to a recent Morning Consult poll, Trump is now viewed positively by 78% of potential GOP primary voters. This is a 2% increase over his previous rating of 76% last week. Furthermore, Republicans registering a negative view of the former president declined by a similar 2%, to 20% overall.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was viewed positively by 66% of GOP voters, down slightly from last week. In addition, 19% of respondents said they had a negative view of the governor.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is now viewed favorably by only 49% of Republicans, down from 54% last week. Those who viewed him unfavorably increased from 36% to 42%.
The changes come as the former vice president stated that he wasn’t sure whether or not he would pardon Trump if he were convicted in the federal documents case.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) also saw a drop, with 44% of Republicans viewing her positively, compared to 54% last week.
Among potential Republican voters, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) registered 46% with a negative view, which has increased as Christie leveled sharp critiques of Trump. Only 28% of Republicans have a positive view of the former governor.
Christie’s support in the Republican primary has grown, the poll indicated. Christie now commands 3% of primary voters.
The former president referenced his positive poll ratings during this week’s Faith & Freedom Coalition conference.
“I’m probably the only person in the history of this country that’s been indicted and my numbers went up,” he said. “It’s true, way up.”
The recent poll is one of several that showed increased standings for Trump following the indictment’s announcement. An Emerson poll released last week placed Trump at 59% support for the nomination.
2024 National Republican Primary
• Trump — 59% (+38)
• DeSantis — 21%
• Pence — 6%
• Haley — 4%
• Christie — 2%
• Ramaswamy — 2%
• Scott — 2%
• Burgum — 1%
• Hutchinson — 1%Emerson (A-) | June 19-20 | RVshttps://t.co/CPhqOb6VdE pic.twitter.com/kvrfHUkQR2
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) June 22, 2023
DeSantis was in second place with 21% while Pence rated at 6%. No other Republican candidate received more than 5%.
