Poll: Most Republicans Say Donald Trump Is the ‘Strongest Candidate’

WACO, TEXAS - MARCH 25: Former president Donald Trump gestures to the crowd during a campa
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Most Republicans believe former President Donald Trump is the “strongest candidate” for the party in 2024, the latest survey from the Economist/YouGov found.

The survey, taken July 8-11, 2023, asked respondents, “Do you think that Donald Trump is the strongest candidate that Republicans could nominate for president in 2024?”

Most Republicans, 55 percent, expressed the belief that Trump is, indeed, the strongest candidate the GOP could nominate for president in the upcoming presidential election. Another 30 percent said he is not, and 15 percent remained unsure.

Notably, the results from this week’s survey represent a one-point increase from the 54 percent of Republicans who said, “Yes,” Trump is the strongest candidate, in May.

That coincides with over half of Republicans, 52 percent, who choose Trump as their candidate of choice in the crowded 2024 presidential field. That figure drops to 48 percent among registered Republicans and independents who lean Republican. Even so, Trump is still 26 points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 22 percent support in this particular survey among registered Republicans and independents who lean Republican.

Further, the survey showed Trump leading President Joe Biden in a head-to-head match by a single percentage point. While most Republicans gravitate toward Trump and most Democrats choose Biden, Trump has a greater share of independents supporting him — 33 percent to Biden’s 27 percent.

The survey was taken among 1,500 U.S. adult citizens and comes as Trump continues to dominate as the frontrunner in virtually every other survey. The latest Morning Consult survey, for instance, found Trump leading with support from 56 percent of potential Republican primary voters.

Trump has continued to speak out about the state of the race on Truth Social, blasting “Crooked Joe Biden’s Targeted, Weaponized DOJ & FBI” as a “grave threat to our Democracy!”

“They are doing Crooked’s DIRTY WORK in attacking and persecuting ‘TRUMP,’ and only doing so because I am CRUSHING DeSanctimonious and Biden in the Polls,” Trump wrote, concluding that it is “planned Election Interference of the highest magnitude, and used to only happen in Third World Countries.”

“Now, sadly and terribly, it is happening right here in America, and must be stopped if our Country is to survive. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he exclaimed.

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