Former President Donald Trump's fight with the FBI over its search of his Mar-a-Lago property may have given his ratings an added boost in a potential GOP primary battle for the 2024 GOP nomination, with a new poll Sunday showing his hold on Republicans and other surveys revealing his numbers rising against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose ratings had been growing in several key states.
An NBC News poll released Sunday, which questioned Republican voters about whether they support Trump more or the GOP showed that 41% said they support the former president more than their party, with 50% supporting the party more, reports Axios.
This was a climb of 7 points since May when 58% of Republicans polled by NBC News said they identified more with the party and 34% with Trump.
In a poll released by Saint Anselm College last week, in the early primary state of New Hampshire, Trump held a 50%-29% lead over DeSantis in a potential primary race. However, a University of New Hampshire poll in June had DeSantis and Trump in a statistical tie.
Meanwhile, the FBI's search also added to Trump's fundraising efforts, with donors becoming re-engaged while the former president's texts and emails accuse the FBI of "breaking into my home" in connection with their use of a search warrant on his property.
Before the search, however, Republicans were focusing more on criticizing the left on matters such as education, media bias, COVID regulations, and more, which played more to DeSantis and his views. After the search the focus has returned to Trump and his fights against the "Deep State," notes Axios.
The return of Trump to the center of the party's attention is concerning though to Republicans seeking wins in the midterm congressional elections because they fear that means the party is looking to the past, rather than at current issues such as inflation, the outlet reported.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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