According to a poll recently published by the Wall Street Journal, former President Donald Trump still maintains a firm lead for the Republican presidential nomination. In addition, Republican primary voters overwhelmingly believe his four criminal prosecutions have dubious merits and nearly half indicated that the indictments motivate their support for him.
Per the WSJ poll, 59% of Republican voters view Trump as their top choice for the GOP nomination in 2024. Previously viewed as Trump’s most credible challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis only enjoys 13% support among GOP primary voters at second place in the poll.
One thing the poll detailed is that criminal prosecutions, that in previous eras might have torpedoed a candidate’s election bid, have actually strengthened Trump at the polls. Two of Trump’s indictments consist of his efforts to stay in office after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, which rife with many alleged causes of irregularities and fraud.
When questioned about Trump’s indictments, over 60% of Republican primary voters indicated that each of these indictments were political in nature and had zero merit. 78% of these voters believed Trump’s actions following the 2020 election constituted legitimate attempts to guarantee an accurate vote, whereas 16% indicated that Trump had illegally attempted to block Congress from certifying the election.