The FBI raid on former President Donald Trump’s estate bolstered his support among GOP primary voters and widened his lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a new poll.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 57% of primary voters would back Mr. Trump if he ran and the primary were held now, a 4-point jump from the 53% who backed the ex-president in a mid-July poll.
Mr. DeSantis, meanwhile, saw his support slide from 23% to 17%, meaning Mr. Trump saw a 10-point boost over his nearest rival after agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The poll was conducted Wednesday, following the Aug. 8 raid, though before the courts released documents showing what agents recovered from the site.
The inventory included documents considered classified. Investigators are probing whether Mr. Trump retained records that belonged to the government.
The poll surveyed 2,004 registered voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
No other candidate besides Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis enjoyed double-digit support, according to Insider, which reported the poll results on Sunday.
Politico is owned by Axel Springer, Insider’s parent company.
Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. DeSantis has launched a 2024 bid. Mr. DeSantis is focused on getting reelected as governor this fall.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has teased a run as a way to counter unflattering narratives about him from the House select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
However, the broader GOP is skittish about him announcing a bid before they tackle the midterm election season.
Mr. Trump is casting himself as a victim of government overreach after the FBI raid, pointing to the unprecedented nature of the search.
“It was for political, not legal reasons, and our entire Country is angry, hurt, and greatly embarrassed by it,” Mr. Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social, the social media platform he launched after getting kicked off Twitter.
Mr. Trump may be overstating opposition, according to the Politico/Morning Consult poll.
The Morning Consult/Politico poll found that 49% of registered voters strongly or somewhat approve of the raid versus 37% who strongly or somewhat disapprove and 13% who aren’t sure.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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