Poll: Trump’s support grows after charges

Donald Trump’s lead over his Republican primary rivals widened in a poll conducted after his fourth indictment, showing the kind of support that’s prompting him to deride this week’s GOP debate.

The CBS News/yougov poll of likely Republican primary voters found 62 percent support for the former president and 16 percent for Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, his closest competitor in the race for the GOP nomination, who declined 7 percentage points from a CBS poll in June.

Trump polled 61 percent in the earlier survey.

Trump’s support among his base has held up throughout his growing legal entanglements, most recently a 19-person indictment in Atlanta that charges him and top aides with seeking to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

Asked about the latest indictment, 77 percent in the CBS poll said they view it as “politically motivated.”

Part of Trump’s campaign strategy has been to deprive his competitors of attention.

He has repeatedly questioned the point of participating in the first Republican primary debate Wednesday, citing his polling lead.

He swiftly touted Sunday’s poll on his Truth Social platform, including its headline asserting that “GOP voters dismiss indictments.”

Trump is expected to feature in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday, overlapping with the GOP debate, though a spokesperson said Friday that plans hadn’t been finalized.

The former president was absent from a showcase of Republican presidential candidates in Atlanta after conservative radio host Erick Erickson said he wanted the gathering, which ended Saturday, to give space to other hopefuls.

Republican National Committee chair Ronna Mcdaniel said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures she is “still holding out hope that President Trump will come.”

Three days before the GOP debate in Milwaukee, former Arkansas

Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s campaign said Sunday he has qualified to take part after meeting the donor and poll-number requirements.

Seven other candidates received single-digit support in the CBS poll, including businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.

The Aug. 16-18 CBS News/yougov poll of 538 likely Republican primary voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points.