Former US President Donald Trump has widened his lead over his rivals in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest, even as he faces criminal charges in New York, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday.
The poll found that some 48% of self-described Republicans say they want Trump to be their party's presidential nominee, up from 44% in a March 14-20 poll.
Some 19% back his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, down from 30% last month. Other likely rivals polled in the single digits.
The online poll was conducted after news broke that Trump would face criminal charges related to hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
Some 71% of Americans, including 58% of Republicans, say it is believable that Trump paid Daniels to keep quiet about an affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
At the same time, 51% of poll respondents, including 80% of Republicans, said they believed the charges are politically motivated.
A Yahoo News-YouGov poll taken last week after Trump was indicted found that Trump still maintains a strong lead in a hypothetical Republican primary poll
The poll found that Trump holds a 31-point lead over his next closest potential GOP rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 52 percent of the vote. DeSantis came in second with 21 percent, followed by former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with 5 percent and former Vice President Mike Pence with 3 percent.
Other current and possible candidates included in the poll received 2 percent or less, while 11 percent said they were not sure.
In a head-to-head matchup, Trump leads DeSantis by 26 points, 57 percent to 31 percent, while 12 percent said they were not sure.
So far, Trump has confirmed his intentions to seek the 2024 Republican nomination, as has Haley. DeSantis has not yet announced a presidential bid, but has been actively preparing for a campaign and is widely expected to make a final decision later this year.
Pence has said he will make a decision “by the spring” about whether to seek the presidency in 2024.