Former President Donald Trump is widening his lead over the field of Republican rivals, according to a new poll shared with The Daily Signal.
With support from 60% of Republican primary voters, Trump commands a 47-point advantage over his nearest competitor in Scott Rasmussen’s latest national survey.
The poll from RMG Research Inc. was in the field Aug. 11-14, before news of Trump’s indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who tallied 13%, made the biggest gains over the past two months, rising from 3% in Rasmussen’s June 21-22 poll. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is third in the new poll with 8%, dropping 7 percentage points since Rasmussen’s Aug. 7-8 survey.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth at 5%, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 4%. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina had 2%.
Nationally, Trump is averaging 54.3%, according to RealClearPolitics. At 60%, Rasmussen’s new national survey is the highest number Trump has recorded since a June 7-10 poll from CBS News/YouGov put him at 61%.
Among those who support Trump, 83% said they were “absolutely certain” they would vote for him. By comparison, 38% of DeSantis supporters expressed a similar sentiment with 62% declaring that something could change their mind about the Florida governor.
With the first Republican presidential debate a week away, candidates will have an opportunity to appear on stage together, albeit potentially without Trump. The GOP frontrunner has not yet committed to attend the event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will be aired on Fox News and is co-sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation and Rumble.
The Republican National Committee is asking candidates to sign a “loyalty pledge,” requiring them to support the eventual GOP nominee and not run as independent or third-party candidate. By a slight plurality, 39% to 38%, voters oppose the idea of such a pledge. Another 23% were unsure about the idea.
Those same voters, however, would support the RNC’s excluding Trump from future GOP debates. Just 27% would favor Trump’s participating without signing the pledge; 54% prefer the RNC enforce the rules and exclude him.
When respondents were asked if they would vote for a Republican or Democrat in their congressional district, the generic GOP candidate had a 48% to 43% advantage. The five-point Republican edge is the highest recorded by Rasmussen’s national survey this year.
The survey also spelled bad news for President Joe Biden, whose job approval plunged to its lowest point in 2023 amid mounting questions about ethical lapses and corruption involving him and his son Hunter Biden.
Biden’s job approval stands at 37% with 59% disapproving of his performance in office. Previously, Biden was hovering around 40% in Rasmussen’s national survey, but he’s now dropped below that mark twice this month.
This week marks the two-year anniversary of Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021. Voters began to sour on the commander-in-chief around that time and he’s never recovered.
Rasmussen also asked Democrat voters about Biden’s intraparty rivals. The president has 64% support, followed by lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 13%, California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 7%, and author Marianne Williamson at 4%. Nine percent were not sure.
Nearly a quarter of voters (24%) ranked the economy as the greatest threat to America’s future.
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