A new poll says more people are seeing former President Donald Trump as being electable after his mug shot from his arrest in Georgia was released and after he decided to skip the first GOP primary debate.
Out of the at least 777 Republican potential primary voters questioned by Morning Consult on Aug. 24-27, 62% said they believe Trump has the best chance out of any Republican of defeating President Joe Biden.
The numbers were up 9% from the organization's previous poll and matched the high point since Morning Consult started asking the question in April.
Trump, who has been indicted in state cases in New York and Georgia and federal cases in Washington, D.C., and Florida, has seen his numbers rise after all four indictments.
Meanwhile, the poll revealed that the numbers are going down for voters who see two of Trump's rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as the party's best choice to run against Biden.
DeSantis was considered the best choice by 13%, matching a low number for the poll, and 6% said Ramaswamy is the best choice against Biden, dropping by 4 points since last week's Morning Consult poll.
In other numbers:
- Unfavorability ratings for Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum climbed after the debate, with Ramaswamy's at 19%; Hutchinson, 25%; Burgum, at 17%.
- Unfavorability ratings for former Vice President Mike Pence and DeSantis remained about the same before and after the debate, with Pence coming in at 40% unfavorable and DeSantis at 23%, as did the unfavorability ratings for other well-established candidates like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
- Meanwhile, in a separate survey of 491 potential GOP voters who said they watched the first debate, 72% of potential Republican primary voters thought Ramaswamy performed “very” or “somewhat” well, coming in higher than DeSantis at 65% or Haley at 64%, reports Morning Consult.
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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