A new poll indicates that former President Donald Trump’s high standing among Republican primary voters did not slip despite his absence from the debate stage in Milwaukee this week.
The survey, conducted by Morning Consult, showed that 58 percent of those individuals would choose President Trump for their party’s presidential nomination.
The same percentage of the more than 1,250 poll respondents would have chosen him prior to the event, which he did not attend.
That leaves him 44 percentage points ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who came in second among prospective voters in the poll.
Both pre and post-debate, 14 percent of voters opted for Mr. DeSantis as their prospective GOP presidential pick.
While 10 percent of respondents chose him before the debate, 11 percent favored Mr. Ramaswamy afterwards, according to Morning Consult.
Former Vice President Mike Pence remained flat, at 6 percent both before and after the debate, while former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who distinguished himself as a strong critic of President Trump Trump, gained one point, going from 3 to 4 percent.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley also didn’t budge per the survey, remaining the favorite of 3 percent of the surveyed group at both times. The same was true of Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), likewise stuck at 3 percent.
Yet, another key survey suggested that Ms. Haley, seen as an establishment favorite among Republicans, gained ground during the event among at least some GOP voters.
She clashed with Mr. Ramaswamy on foreign policy, condemning his calls to cede parts of Ukraine to Russia to break up the Russia-China bloc and to cut U.S. funding for Israel.
Mr. Ramaswamy and Mr. DeSantis gained too, as did Mr. Pence, Mr. Scott, Mr. Christie, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.
Indeed, the only two candidates whose numbers fell were President Trump and former Texas congressman Will Hurd, both of whom were absent from the debate in Milwaukee.
That analysis also suggests a higher percentage of the surveyed debate watchers are considering casting a ballot for Mr. DeSantis than for President Trump—a sign, perhaps, of how distinctive Republican debate watchers may be from an overall GOP electorate still overwhelmingly favorable to President Trump and, according to other surveys, less and less enamored of the Sunshine State’s executive.
An Aug. 23-24 online survey of a broad cross-section of Americans by the Canadian firm Leger found that President Trump currently edges out incumbent President Joe Biden.
If the election took place today, 44 percent of respondents would vote for Mr. Trump while 41 percent would vote for Mr. Biden.
In addition, 45 percent of those surveyed thought Mr. Trump made the right call when he skipped the debate.
Just 27 percent disagreed with his choice, while another 27 percent responded, “I don’t know.”
