Former President Donald Trump skipped out on appearing at the second Republican primary debate, an event that hosted several of the leading candidates for the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential election.
Despite skipping out on a second straight debate, Trump continued to command a strong lead over his competition from the Republican party.
What Happened: The 2023 year has been eventful for Trump with multiple indictments and federal charges and a calendar filling up with court appearances. Trump appeared in court Monday to kick off a civil trial against himself and his businesses.
Despite these developments, Trump continued to see strong backing from Republican voters, which makes him the current odds-on favorite to win the 2024 GOP nomination, barring any future setbacks or surges from rival opponents.
The latest Morning Consult poll of GOP voters showed Trump losing support and his lead shrinking slightly compared to last week.
Here’s a look at who Republican voters would vote for today, with the percentage from last week in parentheses.
- Donald Trump: 61% (58%)
- Ron DeSantis: 13% (15%)
- Vivek Ramaswamy: 7% (9%)
- Nikki Haley: 7% (7%)
- Mike Pence: 5% (6%)
- Chris Christie: 3% (2%)
- Tim Scott: 1% (2%)
In the latest poll, Trump has a 48-point lead, gaining five points from last week’s 43-point lead. Over the past six weeks, Trump has had a lead of at least 43 points each week over his Republican competitors.
The 48-point lead marks one of the largest leads Trump has had in the poll since tracking began in December.
This marked the first poll since the second Republican primary was held and saw seven candidates speak without Trump present. The debate was broadcast on Fox Business, a unit of Fox Corporation FOXFOXA and livestreamed on Rumble Inc RUM.
Viewership for the second debate fell 27% from the first debate with 9.3 million people tuning in to the television broadcast. This marked the lowest viewership figure for a primary debate of the 14 held since Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign.
Related Link: Donald Trump Effect: Republican Voters Think Their Party Cares More About Them Than They Did In 2016
Why It’s Important: The 61% support for Trump and 48-point lead are among the highest for the former president and come after he chose to skip the Republican primary debate once again.
DeSantis lost two percentage points in the latest poll, trending a move down after months of gaining from lows hit in the poll.
Ramaswamy fell two percentage points, marking a second straight week of dropping. After hitting a high of 11% a month ago, the presidential candidate is now trending the wrong way. Since moving up the poll earlier this year, Ramaswamy’s support hovered in the 8% to 10% range.
Haley had 7% support for a second straight week and tied for third place, ranking as one of her best weeks in the national poll. The 7% matches a high for the former South Carolina governor. Haley was one of the noted winners from the first Republican primary debate and the new poll could show she had another strong performance at the second debate.
Pence lost one point and continued to rank in fifth place among the Republican candidates. Christie gained one point to move up to 3%.
Among voters who selected Trump first, 33% chose DeSantis as their next selection, while Ramaswamy was selected by 22% and Haley by 6%.
Of voters who supported DeSantis first, 35% selected Trump as their next selection, 23% selected Haley and 17% selected Ramaswamy. This marked a sharp improvement for Haley who was the second choice of 18% of Trump voters in the previous poll and 19% selecting Ramaswamy.
In the latest poll, Trump’s favorability ranks at 77% with an unfavorable rate of 21%.
DeSantis gets a 67% favorable ranking and 20% unfavorable ranking, compared to 65% and 21% respectively in last week’s poll.
Ramaswamy had a favorable ranking of 54% and an unfavorable rating of 21%, compared to 56% and 20%, respectively, in last week’s poll.
Haley saw an improvement to her favorable rating going from 46% last week to 49% in the latest poll. Haley’s unfavorable rating also improved going from 23% to 20% in the latest poll.
Trump received the highest percentage of people hearing something positive about him at 42%, improving from 38% in last week’s poll. Thirty-seven percent said they had heard something negative about him recently. This is the second straight week since mid-July that more people heard something positive than negative about the former president.
Haley scored strong with 30% saying they had heard something positive and only 15% saying they had heard something negative, a 2-to-1 margin. The other 55% said they had heard nothing about her.
A third debate is scheduled for Nov. 8 and candidates will need to have 4% support in two national polls to qualify. Over the next month, the party could see more candidates drop out or voter support remain the same barring any major events.
Read Next: Trump Makes It 3 In A Row As He Decides To Skip Third Consecutive GOP Debate
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