OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump got some more good news following his indictment and arraignment in federal court last week for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
“A new NPR/Marist University national poll reported that most Republicans want to see former President Donald Trump stay in the 2024 presidential race despite being indicted on federal charges,” Newsmax reported on Saturday.
The poll found that 83 percent of Republicans and 43 percent of all voters say Trump should remain in the race, while 56 percent of all voters believe he should step down.
According to the poll, a large majority of Democrats (87 percent) and a notable portion of independents (58 percent) believe that Trump should withdraw from the race.
“As former President Trump deals with his latest legal woes, Republicans are mostly standing with him, while Democrats are calling for him to exit the 2024 campaign,” Marist Institute for Public Opinion Director Lee M. Miringoff said, according to Newsmax. “Time will tell if this pattern holds; but for now, Republicans are grounded on where they stand on Trump, regardless of these unfolding events.”
The outlet continued:
According to the new poll, 73% of Americans perceive Trump’s actions as “wrong,” with 50% saying it is illegal, compared to 25% who said he did not do anything wrong.
Most Democrats, 78%, believe Trump broke the law, compared to 50% of both Republicans and independents, respectively.
Almost two-thirds of Republicans said they will still support Trump, as will 64% of GOP-leaning independents, with almost 75% of Republicans saying they have a favorable view of the former president.
Meanwhile, Trump was already leading the 2024 GOP presidential field by a large margin, but it appears to have grown following his indictment by the Justice Department.
According to a CBS News poll last week, the former president dominated the Republican primary with 61 percent of support, leading his opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by a significant margin of 38 points.
Meanwhile, Sen. Tim Scott (SC) secured third place with just 4 percent support, edging out former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by one point.
CBS News added:
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.
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
Also, per Breitbart News, the former president won the Western Conservative Summit straw poll on Saturday, which was roughly a day after he got the news he was under a 37-count indictment for his handling of classified documents.
Trump won the straw poll with 40.3 percent versus Ron DeSantis with 35.8 percent of support, the outlet noted.
During his first campaign event following his indictment, the 45th president claimed that his polling numbers and fundraising are both “through the roof.”
During a rally where he addressed the Georgia Republican Party, Trump said the charges were political in nature and that President Joe Biden was behaving like a Soviet-style dictator targeting his political enemies.
“As far as this joke of an indictment, it’s a horrible thing. It’s a horrible thing for this country,” Trump said. “I mean, the only good thing about it is it’s driven by poll numbers way up. Can you believe it?”
