Trump expands lead in 2024 GOP field despite mountain legal woes: WSJ poll

Former President Trump has remained the clear frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, despite making history with four criminal indictments in the campaign’s recent months.

A poll from The Wall Street Journal released Saturday found that 59 percent of Republicans prefer the former president as the 2024 nominee. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis takes second with 13 percent support and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in third with 8 percent support.

Trump’s two most recent criminal cases, both over allegations that he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, did not appear to have a negative impact on the former president's campaign.

In fact, the indictments may have slightly boosted the former president, as the poll found that 60 percent of Republicans said the charges are political in nature and 78 said Trump’s actions after the 2020 election were legal. Just 16 percent said that conduct was illegal, the Journal found.

Nearly half, around 48 percent, of the respondents said the election fraud indictments make them more likely to vote for Trump, according to the poll.

The most notable figure in the primary poll results is DeSantis’s support, which has plummeted since he began teasing a presidential campaign earlier this year. The Florida governor attempted to jump-start his campaign with new staff and a revitalized message last month, but those changes have not resulted in the polling bumps his supporters would have hoped for. 

Now polling at 13 percent support, the same Journal poll in April showed the governor with 24 percent support. Earlier polls, months before DeSantis officially entered the race, had him even closer to Trump.

In a hypothetical general election matchup between Trump and Biden, the poll shows the race as a dead heat. Trump had a 1 percent edge on Biden with third party candidates included — 40 to 39 percent — and the pair were tied at 46 percent support when those candidates were removed.

The GOP primary field remains large, with just one candidate — Miami mayor Francis Suarez — dropping out so far, and as the race’s top candidates prepare for the second debate, scheduled for Sept. 27.