Former President Donald Trump maintains a large lead over the rest of the Republican primary field despite his legal troubles, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos survey.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing support in the GOP presidential nomination race, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Trump (47%) continues to hold a huge lead over DeSantis (13%), whose support has dropped 6 percentage points since mid-July.
No other Republican candidate has double-figure support.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey also found that 45% of Republicans say they would not support Trump if he were convicted of a felony. A total of 35% say they would support him, and 20% don’t know what they would do.
However, more Republicans would support Trump than an unnamed candidate (19%) if he were convicted of a felony.
Trump on Thursday pleaded not guilty in Washington’s federal court to charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election. The former president was previously charged in two other criminal cases.
More than half (52%) of Republican voters say they would not support Trump if he were serving time in prison, while 28% say they would support him, and 20% are not sure what they would do.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey found that majorities of Republicans and those who plan to support Trump in the primary say he behaved appropriately around the 2020 election and Jan. 6. However, only 35% of GOP voters say he acted appropriately when asking former Vice President Mike Pence to reject President Joe Biden's win.
The poll also found that Republicans are much less likely than Democrats or Americans overall to believe that Trump solicited election fraud, incited a mob on Jan. 6, 2021, or was involved in a scheme of fake electors.
Nearly half (48%) of Americans say the charges against Trump are politically motivated, with 25% of Democrats and 75% of Republicans agreeing. A majority (56%) of GOP voters "strongly" agree.
The Reuters/Ipsos survey found that a majority (64%) of Americans have made up their minds about Trump’s guilt or innocence when it comes to Jan. 6. Democrats (76%) are more likely to feel settled on this matter than Republicans (67%).
Republicans (80%) who support Trump in the primary are more likely than the general population or Republicans generally to say they have made up their mind about that.
About three in five (61%) GOP voters say Trump used bad judgment on Jan. 6, but is not criminally liable.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted Aug. 2-3, 2023 among 1,005 adults from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii. The sample included 444 Democrats, 355 Republicans, and 116 independents.
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