Poll: Donald Trump Boasts Double-Digit Lead in South Carolina Primary

Former President Donald Trump is boasting a double-digit lead in South Carolina’s Republican primary race, the latest National Research poll commissioned by American Greatness found.

June’s results showed Trump with a 23-point lead over his challengers, with 41 percent support among likely South Carolina primary voters. That reflects a two-point decrease from the 43 percent support he saw in May.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis comes in a distant second with 18 percent support, maintaining the 18 percent support he saw last month.

Trump is not the only candidate who experienced a two-point decrease over the last month, however. Both former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott have fallen two points, descending to eight percent and ten percent, respectively.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie comes in with three percent support, as does former Vice President Mike Pence. That, however, reflects a two-point increase for Pence, as he garnered one percent support last month.

Anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson both come in last with one percent support each.

Fifteen percent remain unsure, up from 13 percent who were unsure in May.

Further, the survey found Trump edging out DeSantis on specific criteria. For example, 59 percent said Trump is the best option to improve the economy, compared to 12 percent who said the same of DeSantis.

Forty-eight percent said Trump is the “strongest to oppose far-left progressives,” compared to 20 percent who said the same of DeSantis.

Moreover, 41 percent are confident that Trump “cares about needs and concerns of people like me,” compared to 17 percent who said the same of the Florida governor.

Further, more are confident that Trump has the “best chance of beating Biden” (38 percent) compared to DeSantis (28 percent).

The survey was taken June 19-21, 2023, among 500 likely South Carolina voters. It has a +/- 4.38 percent margin of error:

The survey coincides with several others showing Trump as the clear frontrunner in the GOP primary field, even post-arraignment.

A reporter on Thursday asked DeSantis if he would support Trump if the former president is chosen as the 2024 GOP nominee, but the presidential hopeful used the opportunity to hit back at Trump.

As Breitbart News reported:

“So what I would say is this: When you are saying that Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida did, you are revealing yourself to just be full of it. Nobody believes that,” DeSantis said, recalling how Trump praised Florida for being open in 2020 and 2021 and speaking fondly of the governor’s leadership.

“Now, all of a sudden, his tune is changing. And I would just tell people, do you find it credible? Do you honestly find it credible? Would you have rather been in New York during COVID under [the] Cuomo regime, or would you rather have been in the Free State of Florida?” DeSantis asked, dismissing Trump’s critiques as “just frivolous criticisms.”

…

“And he’s saying things that are false, and so that’s fine if you want to do it. I don’t think people are going to buy it,” he said, still not revealing if he would support Trump. Rather, DeSantis concluded that the criticisms likely will not matter, predicting his own success, emerging as the victor.