A few days before the debate between the candidates for the Republican primaries, Donald Trump earned his best result to date in the CBS YouGov poll. According to voter data collected between Aug. 16 and 18, Trump has the support of 62% of voters. This gives him a comfortable 46-point lead ahead of runner-up Ron DeSantis.
Trump's climb in this poll mirrors that of a week earlier by Morning Consult. These are the best results for the former president to date. This surge in support for Trump comes just after a new legal case was opened against him in Georgia. According to the poll, 65% of Trump's supporters said they voted for him to "show support during his legal fight." Among his supporters, ninety-nine percent said that they "think things were better under Trump."
This latest data from YouGov was also collected before Trump officially confirmed that he will not participate in the upcoming GOP debate. "The public knows who I am," the candidate said on social media. In the same announcement, he cited the " legendary" results given to him by CBS and YouGov to justify his decision not to attend.
According to The New York Times, Trump plans to replace the primary debate with a face-to-face interview with Tucker Carlson. According to the same sources, the interview will be broadcast over the internet and at the same time as the primary debate, which is hosted by Fox from Milwaukee.
Despite Trump's decision not to participate, a majority of primary voters would have preferred to see him on the debate stage, 73% to be exact. However, 91% of respondents said other candidates should mind their own business instead of attacking Trump. During the presidential campaign, many candidates presented themselves as anti-Trump candidates. Chris Christie in particular has clashed head-on with the former president.
Ron DeSantis arrives to the debate at a low
The gap is widening for Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Throughout the campaign, DeSantis has been losing support. According to the YouGov poll, 50% of respondents thought he had a chance of beating Biden in June if elected as the Republican candidate. The same figure has dropped to 35% in this new survey.
DeSantis remains the second-leading candidate, with 16% support, but Vivek Ramaswamy is close behind at 7%. Ramaswamy has gained a few points to jump to third place.
