A poll indicates that former President Donald Trump has widened his lead in the GOP primary following the Department of Justice’s indictment of him for allegedly mishandling classified documents at his Florida home.
Surveying 1,798 potential voters between June 9-10 with a margin of error ±3.3 points, the CBS News poll showed the former president had 61 percent support in the Republican primary, leading his opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by a full 38 points – 61 percent to 23 percent. Republican Sen. Tim Scott (SC) stands in third place with just 4 percent of support, just one point ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
CBS News Poll: Trump Posts Biggest Lead Yet Over DeSantis
Trump — 61% (+38)
DeSantis — 23%
T. Scott — 4%
Pence — 4%
Haley — 3%
Ramaswamy — 1%
Hutchinson — 1%
Burgum — 1%
Elder — 1%
Christie — 1%CBS Poll (B+) | 06/07-10 | n=586https://t.co/V076JVS4Iw pic.twitter.com/pQjIqvYCV4
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) June 11, 2023
Regarding the indictment, a plurality of those polled expressed concern that the former president had been targeted for political reasons, not for legal reasons. Per CBS News:
Republican primary voters say they’re far more concerned that Donald Trump’s indictment is politically motivated than his alleged conduct being a national security risk – and there’s no evidence it’s hurt his status as the clear front-runner for the 2024 nomination, at least not yet. He remains well ahead of rivals in both consideration and vote choice.
In fact, most Republican primary voters would not generally consider him keeping the alleged documents with nuclear systems or military plans to be a national security risk, in and of itself.
Most explicitly ruled out the charges announced in the indictment changing their views about Mr. Trump. Rather than being disqualifying in their eyes, even if he’s ultimately convicted of a crime in the matter, they overwhelmingly feel he should still be able to serve as president again.
RELATED VIDEO — Jim Jordan: Trump Indictment “the Most Political Thing I Have Ever Seen”:
As Breitbart News reported, the former president also won the straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit on Saturday, which occurred roughly 24 hours after the full details from the indictment had been revealed. The indictment charged that the former president had mishandled highly classified material that contained nuclear secrets at his private residence.
Trump won the straw poll with 40.3 percent versus Ron DeSantis with 35.8 percent of support.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
