US 2024 polls: Indictments may help Trump get GOP nomination but harm his general election chances, poll shows

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has surpassed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the odds of a leading bookmaker to take the second spot in the Republican primary behind former President Donald Trump following the first debate.

Mr Ramaswamy, 38, was both booed and cheered in Milwaukee on Wednesday night as he made several controversial statements, calling the “climate change agenda” a “hoax” and arguing that the US should cease all aid to Ukraine.

Mr Trump led with 52.1 per cent support, ahead of Mr DeSantis with 15.2 per cent and Mr Ramaswamy with 9.7 per cent.

Ahead of the debate, gambling giant Betway had Mr Trump as the favourite to win the nomination, with odds of 7/20, while Mr DeSantis was on 6/1 and Mr Ramaswamy was on 7/1.

By the morning after the debate, Mr DeSantis’s odds were at 8/1 and Mr Ramaswamy was at 6/1, while Mr Trump’s odds remained the same.

Mr Trump leads with 52.1 per cent support, ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 15.2 per cent and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy with 9.7 per cent.

Former Vice President Mike Pence comes in at 4.3 per cent, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is at 3.6 per cent with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the ex-governor of South Carolina, has the backing of 3.4 per cent.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is supported by 3.3 per cent, ex-Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson receives 0.7 per cent while North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum gets 0.4 per cent support.

At the bottom of the pack, former Texas Rep and CIA agent Will Hurd gets 0.3 per cent and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez gets 0.3 per cent.

A YouGov/CBS News poll has found that Trump supporters trust the former president more as a source of true information than their family, friends, and religious leaders.

The poll, conducted between 16 and 18 August, included 2,061 respondents.

When asked who they feel tells them the truth, 71 per cent said Mr Trump, 63 per cent said family and friends, members of the conservative media received 56 per cent, and religious leaders got 42 per cent.

Associate professor of global politics at University College London Brian Klaas tweeted: “Trump voters believe Trump is more likely to tell them the truth than their friends and family. Again: to understand the modern GOP, you need to understand what an authoritarian cult of personality is, because that’s what it has become.”

Tom Nichols of The Atlantic simply tweeted: “Insanely cultish.”

Forty per cent of the respondents in a new Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll said they had already decided which candidate to support while 52 per cent said they remained open to changing who they’re backing.

Seven per cent said they were only considering a single candidate, 17 per cent were thinking about two, while 19 per cent said three, and 55 per cent four or more.

Twenty-nine per cent said it was most important to back a candidate who could win a general election, while 65 per cent said it was more important to find someone who agreed with them on the issues.

Sixty-three per cent of likely Iowa caucusgoers has said in a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll that they would back Donald Trump as their first or second choice, or that they were considering supporting him.

For Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, that number of 61 per cent.

The same poll found that Mr Trump’s recent Georgia indictment led to a 12 per cent rise in the number of people planning on or considering backing him.

Former President Donald Trump is leading Florida Governor Ron DeSantis among likely Iowa caucusgoers, 42 to 19 per cent, according to a new poll.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott came in third with nine per cent in the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

It included 406 likely Republican caucusgoers and was conducted between 13-17 August.

Both former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence received six per cent.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got five per cent, while four per cent said they were planning on backing entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Florida Gov Ron DeSantis is seeing his support in the Republican primary race crater as rivals gain ground against him while former President Donald Trump’s dominance over the party appears to be holding steady.

A new CBS News poll of likely Republican primary voters across the country shows Mr DeSantis trending downwards, currently at 16 per cent after dropping seven percentage points over a two-month span. In the time since CBS polled voters in June, the governor has slipped from 23 per cent while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has surged into third place.

And Donald Trump is celebrating. Read more:

President Joe Biden has devoted the past several weeks to promoting the positive impacts of his policies — but his efforts have yet to meaningfully register with the public.

Only 36% of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, slightly lower than the 42% who approve of his overall performance, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Both figures are close to where Biden’s approval numbers have stood for about the past year and a half, including just two months ago. Signs of an improving economic outlook have done little to sway how people feel about the Democratic president as he gears up for a 2024 reelection campaign that could pit him against his predecessor and 2020 opponent, Republican Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has taken to lashing out at Fox News, claiming that the network is working with other Republican candidates to figure out who can beat him in the GOP primary, while using unflattering “orange” photos of him and negative polls.

The former president initially took to Truth Social to say that the network is “going all out, just as they did in 2016, to figure who in this very large, but failing Republican field, can beat your favorite President, Donald John Trump”.

Support is dropping for the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr in the Democratic primary, polls show.

A poll by Quinnipiac University released on Wednesday revealed that Mr Kennedy is supported by 13 per cent of Democrats, a drop of 3.5 per cent compared to June.

The recent poll was conducted between 10 and 14 August and included 1,632 likely voters. It showed a slight increase in support for Marianne Williamson, the self-help author who also ran for president in 2020.

Her support increased from eight per cent in June to nine per cent in August.

Support for President Joe Biden increased from 70 to 72 per cent.

In the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Mr Kennedy received 20 per cent in April, 16.8 per cent in June and 13.3 per cent in August.