If, as ex-President Donald Trump and his supporters contend, Democrats are simply wielding the law to prevent Trump from participating in the 2024 election, the strategy might be counterproductive, as indicated by the recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll.
The survey shows that 83% of Republicans and those leaning Republican believe Trump should persist in the 2024 presidential race, despite his recent arrest in Miami on a 37-count federal charge.
Despite the wishes of Democrats and those leaning Democratic (87%), as well as fully independent moderates (58%) for Trump to withdraw from the race in light of these charges, it’s the Republican voters who will have the initial say in the 2024 GOP primary cycle.
“As ex-President Trump navigates his current legal troubles, Republicans predominantly stand by him, while Democrats urge him to withdraw from the 2024 race,” wrote Lee Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, in a statement. “Time will reveal whether this trend persists, but as of now, Republicans are firm on their position regarding Trump, regardless of these ongoing developments.”
Trump has claimed that this legal warfare—exploiting the legal system to wage a political battle against President Joe Biden’s opposition—is merely an “election interference” strategy.
The poll’s data might substantiate that assertion, because if Biden’s supporters genuinely believe in their candidate’s superiority, why would they not want a besmirched Trump to represent the GOP in the 2024 face-off against Biden?
Alan Dershowitz, a legal expert, often presents this narrative on Newsmax, asserting that he doesn’t want the Biden administration’s Justice Department to misuse justice and deny him the “right” to “vote against Trump for the third time” in a presidential election.
Despite his defense of Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, Dershowitz has repeatedly informed Newsmax that he remains a liberal Democrat who votes against Trump, as American democracy allows.
According to the poll, Trump remains a commanding 2-to-1 favorite over the rest of the GOP primary field combined, with 64% of Republicans and those leaning Republican endorsing Trump, as opposed to just 32% planning to support one of the other dozen candidates in the GOP primary field.
Furthermore, the charges in both Manhattan County and federal courts have only strengthened Trump’s base, with 76% of Republicans and those leaning Republican having a favorable opinion of Trump, up from 68% in the February edition of this poll.
Even if GOP primary voters are evenly divided on whether he did anything wrong, an overwhelming majority (83%) still want the opportunity to vote for him as the GOP nominee for 2024.
The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll National Poll was carried out between June 12-14 among 1,327 American adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
