Campaign

Trump tops DeSantis by 38 points in new poll after news of indictment

by Lauren Sforza - 06/11/23 10:36 AM ET

FILE - This combination of photos shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking on April 21, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md., left, and former President Donald Trump speaking on March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. In his first week on the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, Gov. DeSantis repeatedly hit his chief rival, Donald Trump, from the right. DeSantis told a conservative radio host, “This is a different guy than 2015, 2016." Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis from the left, suggesting Florida’s new six-week abortion ban is “too harsh” and arguing DeSantis’ votes to cut Social Security and Medicare in Congress will make him unelectable in a general election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) — FILE – This combination of photos shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking on April 21, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md., left, and former President Donald Trump speaking on March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. In his first week on the campaign trail as a presidential candidate, Gov. DeSantis repeatedly hit his chief rival, Donald Trump, from the right. DeSantis told a conservative radio host, “This is a different guy than 2015, 2016.” Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis from the left, suggesting Florida’s new six-week abortion ban is “too harsh” and arguing DeSantis’ votes to cut Social Security and Medicare in Congress will make him unelectable in a general election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Former President Trump topped his closest Republican challenger by nearly 40 points in a new poll of likely GOP voters following the news of his federal indictment.

The CBS News and YouGov poll found that 61 percent of likely GOP voters would vote for Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) trailed in second-place, garnering 23 percent of the vote.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Vice President Mike Pence each received four percent of the vote while presidential candidate Nikki Haley received 3 percent of the vote. When asked what candidates they would consider voting for right now, 75 percent of likely GOP respondents said they would consider Trump and 51 percent said they would consider DeSantis.

Twenty-one percent of voters said they would consider Scott, 16 percent said they would consider Pence and 15 percent said they would consider Haley. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy received 13 percent of the vote, while former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received seven percent when voters were asked what candidates they were considering.

Sixty-one percent said news of Trump’s indictment does not affect their view of him. When asked what should happen to Trump if he is convicted of the federal charges, 80 percent of likely GOP voters said he should be able to be president.

The Justice Department charged Trump in a 37-count indictment last week over his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House. Justice Department evidence revealed that the former president had documents containing nuclear and military secrets and the charges hold several decades of prison time.

The poll included responses from 1,798 respondents interviewed between June 9 and 10 after the indictment was unsealed. The margin of error for the sample is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.