Nearly half of Republicans view former President Donald Trump as the strongest candidate against President Joe Biden, a recent Monmouth University survey found.
When looking at the entire Republican primary field, 45 percent of Republican voters view Trump as “definitely” the strongest candidate to defeat Biden in the 2024 presidential election. In addition to that, 24 percent more said he is “probably” the strongest candidate to face Biden.
Only 13 percent of Republican voters said “definitely” another candidate, and 18 percent said another candidate would “probably” be stronger than Trump.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to overtake Trump nationally in the polls, saw 22 percent deeming the presidential hopeful as a stronger candidate than Trump in facing off against Biden. Just more than a quarter, 26 percent, said DeSantis would be “just as strong as Trump.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
This same survey also examined the Republican field and found Trump leading his competitors by 32 percent. Trump garnered majority support — 54 percent. DeSantis came in a distant second with 22 percent support, followed by anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy with five percent support. All remaining candidates received three percent support or less.
This survey was taken both before and after Trump announced that he was the target of a January 6 investigation:
“Trump has successfully pushed a politics of grievance where the system is out to get you. In that light, the criminal charges seem to make him an even stronger advocate in the eyes of many Republicans,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, observed.
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The survey was taken July 12-19, 2023, among 681 Republican and Republican-leaning voters and has a +/- 5.9 percent margin of error. It coincides with the release of a Messenger/Harris poll, showing Trump leading Biden in a head-to-head matchup by four points.