Poll: Trump Sees Another Favorability Boost as GOP Field Continues to Grow

Former President Donald Trump has grown more popular over the past week, experiencing another small bump in favorability, the latest Morning Consult survey found.

This week’s survey found 78 percent of Republican primary voters reporting a favorable view of Trump — up from the 76 percent who said the same last week post-indictment. The percentage of those who have an unfavorable view of Trump decreased two points, moving from 22 percent to 20 percent.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s favorability rating also remained virtually the same, coming in with 66 percent viewing him favorably — down from 67 percent last week and 68 percent the week prior. His unfavorable rating nearly matches Trump, as 19 percent report an unfavorable view of the governor. However, that is down from 22 percent who said the same last week. The Florida governor’s current unfavorable rating reflects a five-point increase from the 14 percent who viewed him unfavorably in March.

Former Vice President Mike Pence experienced a drop in favorability, moving from 54 percent last week to 49 percent this week. He also experienced a six-point increase in those who view him unfavorably, moving from 36 percent last week to 42 percent this week.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also saw a significant drop this week, with 44 percent viewing her favorably. That reflects a ten-point drop from the 54 percent who said the same last week. Further, her unfavorable percentage — 22 percent — is higher than both Trump’s and DeSantis’s.

Other candidates, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and anti-woke businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, have favorability ratings above water, but both continue to see a significant portion of respondents indicating they have never heard of them — 29 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has the highest unfavorable rating of all the candidates, as 46 percent have an unfavorable view— a ten-point jump from the 36 percent who said the same last week. Just 28 percent have a favorable view.

Morning Consult observed that Christie is “becoming more unpopular as he attacks Trump.”

Almost half of potential GOP primary voters (46 percent) hold unfavorable views of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, up from 39 percent ahead of his June 6 campaign announcement as he has made headlines for criticizing Trump. His support has grown from 1 percent to 3 percent over the past couple of weeks, putting his backing in line with Haley, Scott, and Ramaswamy.

Notably, last week, Christie described Trump as a “failed leader” while propping himself up as someone who can win over independent voters.

“Do we need Donald Trump whining, moaning and making everything about him? He didn’t care about the American people. He’s putting himself first,” he said during an appearance on America’s Newsroom.

That portion of the survey was taken June 15-18, 2023, among 791 potential Republican primary voters. It has a +/- 4.4 percent margin of error.

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