Political support for former president Donald Trump has seen a surge after the New York grand jury indictment over his alleged hush money payment and the impending arraignment. A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll has shown that Trump has widened his lead over his main Republican contender for presidential nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, after Manhattan District Attorney pushed through with the indictment.
Lead of 26 Percentage Points
The poll showed that in a one-on-one contest with DeSantis, Trump would clinch the GoP nomination with a margin of 57 percent against DeSantis' 31 percent, running up a lead of 26 percentage points.
Trump's lead over DeSantis was much thinner a week before the indictment, with the former president placed at 47 percent against 39 percent for DeSantis in a head-to-head matchup. In February, DeSantis was leading Trump with 45 percent support, against Trump's 41 percent.
As per the latest poll, Trump has an impressive lead against a wider set of potential Republican opponents. In a 10-candidate field of declared GOP challengers, Trump gets the support of 52 percent while the support for DeSantis plummeted to 21 percent.
Widening Lead
Before the indictment, 51 percent of Republicans supported Trump for presidency, but this widened to 54 percent after the indictment.
YouGov conducted the survey among 1,089 US adults within 24 hours of the New York grand jury's vote to indict Trump.
More Believe It's Political Bias
The survey also revealed that the US voters are tightly divided over the indictment of Trump, who is the first ever former president in US history to have been charged criminally. Interestingly, Trump's indictment does not get a wide approval from the larger pool of Americans. Only 42 percent approve the indictment, with 39 percent saying they do not approve the Manhattan DA's decision to prosecute Trump. Some 20 percent say they are not sure.
While 69 percent of Democrats approve the decision to prosecute Trump, 66 percent of Republicans disapprove of it.
Also, while 42 percent of Americans think the indictment is the result of a genuine effort to hold the former president accountable, 43 percent believe that the move was the result of 'political bias against Trump'.
