According to a recent national survey released on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump’s support among Republicans has shockingly declined since his conviction in the Mar-a-Lago classified papers case.
The CNN survey of 1,350 registered voters found that Trump’s support among GOP voters dropped from 53% to 47% in the previous month, despite the fact that he still enjoys a commanding lead over a crowded field.
Republicans as a whole, and a sizable 25% of them, believe that the indictment in the paper case was appropriate and that he should abandon his campaign after that.
Only 67% of GOP voters think favorably of him, a whopping 10% decrease from a comparable survey taken in May.
The survey, which was conducted late last week, had a 3.4-point margin of error and included 560 Republicans.
Trump’s chances of winning the Republican nomination for president are virtually evenly split, with 51% of GOP voters believing he has the greatest chance and 49% believing he doesn’t.
The dismal results are rather unexpected given that it was thought that the indictment would only help Trump increase his support in the GOP primary contest.
His poll ratings significantly increased following his prior indictment on New York State charges related to a hush money payment made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
His popularity has been increasing among Republicans in recent months. Since Trump maintains a sizable advantage over Florida Gov. DeSantis, whose support has remained at 26% even while Trump’s support fell, the surveys may be an anomaly or a brief blip.
In the most recent survey, former vice president Mike Pence came in second with 9% of the vote, followed by former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, and Trump detractor and former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie.
In the crowded field, others only attracted less than 1%. The survey was conducted before Trump’s Monday Fox News interview, which was widely condemned and in which he acknowledged disobeying a subpoena to surrender sensitive information and claimed he had the right to retain it until he had a chance to go through boxes for golf equipment and other personal stuff.
Christie made fun of Trump for what he called a stupid justification for defying a federal subpoena.
It’s possible that some of Trump’s opponents saw a more unfavorable response to the indictment than was anticipated in the early Republican internal polls.
After first implying that the indictment was false, Pence and Haley both reversed course to mildly rebuke Trump.
Republican voters still have quite different opinions from the majority of Americans, notwithstanding the slight changes in their attitudes.
More than 60% of respondents agree with the accusations against Trump and believe he should withdraw from the campaign.
That includes two-thirds of independents and more than 90% of Democrats.
If Trump is able to overcome his legal issues and win the Republican nomination, these statistics indicate that he will confront an extremely unfavorable political environment in a general election.
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