New polls show former President Donald Trump skyrocketing ahead of his Republican rivals, particularly Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential race even as he faces criminal charges in New York.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll found Trump leading DeSantis by his widest-ever margin after the indictment, according to Yahoo News. Trump’s lead over DeSantis jumped 18 points in the poll.
The former president led DeSantis by 26 percentage points in the poll published Saturday, compared to an only eight-percentage-point lead only two weeks prior.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Monday indicated that about 48 percent of self-described Republicans wanted Trump to be the party’s nominee. That’s up from 44 percent in a poll from mid-March, prior to his March 30 indictment, Reuters reported.
READ MORE: DeSantis, GOPers respond to ‘un-American’ Trump indictment
A poll conducted through April 2 by the Republican-aligned Defend Texas Liberty PAC found Trump 32 points ahead of the next option, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, compared to 16 points in a poll that ended March 2, according to FiveThirtyEight.
READ MORE: Trump indicted by NY grand jury; Trump responds
Trump has also taken advantage of his criminal case to boost his fundraising. The former president raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours after his indictment, NBC News reported, and pulled in around $8 million in the days following, the New York Post reported.
Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records relating to alleged hush money payments to prevent sex scandals during the 2016 election. Some of those payments allegedly went to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Other Republicans challenging Trump for the nomination include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. His most widely anticipated party rival, DeSantis, has not yet announced a campaign.
President Joe Biden has not confirmed a race for a second term, but is expected to run. He faces two Democratic challengers so far: self-help guru Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
