Former US President Donald Trump continues to maintain his dominant position in the Republican camp for the upcoming 2024 presidential elections as a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll confirms that he remains the prime frontrunner for nomination as the presidential candidate by drawing half the support of half of the party's voters.
According to the poll, 61 per cent of self-identified Republicans said that they would vote for Trump in the state-by-state nominating contest to challenge current President Joe Biden. None of his rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy came close to the support enjoyed by Trump.
DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley were backed by 11 percent of Republicans, while Ramaswamy stood at five per cent. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got the support of two per cent of the voters, and eight per cent of the Republicans said that they were undecided.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll also found little evidence that Republican voters are swayed by the battery of federal and state criminal charges Trump faces. Less than one-quarter of the Republican respondents said that they believed accusations of electoral fraud and inciting the mob during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, against Trump.
Additionally, the poll found few signs that Republican voters opposed to Trump are rallying around one of his rivals. Haley's position has improved since September, when a Reuters/Ipsos poll found her tied for fourth place at four per cent. Despite that, she and other candidates are far behind Trump.
A total of 1,689 self-identified Republicans were interviewed for this poll. It comes as the first ballots of the 2024 US elections will be cast in Iowa's Republican caucus on January 15 next year. Trump has maintained a continued absence in all of the Republican primary debates, which have witnessed a fiery debate among his rivals.
Trump's civil fraud trial
Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday declined to testify for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial -- announcing that he “very successfully & conclusively” testified last month and saw no need to do so again. New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump of inflating his wealth on financial statements used in securing loans and making deals.
“President Trump has already testified. There is really nothing more to say to a judge who has imposed an unconstitutional gag order and thus far appears to have ignored President Trump’s testimony and that of everyone else involved in the complex financial transactions at issue in the case,” Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said Sunday.
In a statement, James said whether Trump testified again or not, “we have already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. No matter how much he tries to distract from reality, the facts don’t lie.”
Had Trump returned to the stand on Monday, it would’ve been his defence lawyers leading the questioning, but lawyers from James’ office could have cross-examined him, too. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled before the trial that Trump and other defendants engaged in fraud. He ordered that a receiver take control of some Trump properties, but an appeals court has paused that decision.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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