- 62% of potential Republican primary voters said Trump has best chance of beating Biden, poll shows.
- Morning Consult's new data comes after Trump's latest arrest and no-show at the GOP debate.
Former US president Donald Trump's latest arrest, historic mugshot, and absence at the first GOP debate have made him more popular among potential Republican primary voters who responded to the latest poll from Morning Consult.
According to Morning Consult's latest data, 62% of polled potential GOP primary voters said Trump has the best chance of beating current president Joe Biden, matching a record high. That's up from 53% who said as much when it was asked a week ago on August 20.
Since then, his rivals have appeared on national television for a debate, and he has done the same related to an indictment.
The poll shows the multi-indicted former president far ahead of other candidates for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who saw just 13% of potential primary voters saying he'd have the best chance of beating Biden in the same poll.
The data comes after a big week for Trump. He opted out of Wednesday's GOP presidential debate, instead recording an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that was posted just five minutes before the debate began. His absence was largely felt, and most candidates declared they'd support him if he was the nominee.
Then, on Thursday, Trump was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, after a sprawling indictment accused him and 18 others of trying to overturn the 2020 election in the state. His mugshot — a first for an ex-president — took over social media and news, becoming an instant meme.
According to an average of national polls deemed "major" by FiveThirtyEight, Trump's currently bringing in an average of 50.3% support, or 35.5 percentage points more than DeSantis, who's in second place.