Well, there’s no debate about this: Right now, the Republican Party would easily re-nominate Donald Trump for 2024. And it’s not close. 

The former president now holds his largest lead over his rivals in our polling amid his recent legal troubles. In fact, most of his voters cite those troubles as yet one more reason to show him support.

His nearest  — but not too near — rival Ron DeSantis has fallen even further back. Everyone else is in single digits.

Trump voters’ affinity for him seems to insulate the former president from attacks whether or not he debates this week, because voters basically say they aren’t receptive to such criticism. 

Instead, a whopping nine in 10 GOP primary voters want the other candidates to focus on making the case for themselves, but not against Trump.

(In interviews conducted before there were reports that Trump has decided to skip the debate, his voters were likelier than others to both say he should participate in the event and that they intend to watch.) 

They dismiss the premise of the charges: the bulk of them do think Trump tried to stay in office, but to them, it was legal and constitutional because these Republican primary voters overwhelmingly think Joe Biden didn’t win legitimately

There may be a rally effect: a sizable three-quarters of Trump’s voters include those who “show support for his legal troubles” as one rationale, among others, for considering him in the first place. 

The context here is that Republican primary voters believe the political system is corrupt at an even higher rate than Americans overall do. That could mean perceiving Trump as railing against — or prosecuted by — that system might well make him seem, from their perspective, like the one telling a larger truth. 

More generally, Trump’s voters hold him as a source of true information, even more so than other sources, including conservative media figures, religious leaders, and even their own friends and family.

Half the primary electorate says there’s been too much coverage of Trump. Clearly, much of that is related to the negative stories about his indictments.

GOP primary voters say they’ve been hearing Republican candidates talk about Trump-related topics as much as, if not more than, either economic issues more generally or social and cultural issues. 

His track record shows that those considering him almost all think things were better in the country under his presidency. And the vast majority say they’ve “always been a supporter.” Together, these appear to contribute to a powerful “incumbency advantage” for Trump.

It could be strategic: Republican voters think Trump has the best shot to beat Biden — remember, many think he already did. And that’s really important to them, outweighing even some disagreements on policy. (Of note: Ron DeSantis has fallen on this electability measure since along with his support.)

There’s also Trump’s personal connection: Almost all his voters say he “fights for people like me.” 

And then, in particular, a large majority of primary voters would want a candidate similar to Trump, if it were not him. So, they’re picking the original, as it were.

Time may help the field. It’s early. And voters know it.

For the voters at least actively considering someone else along with Trump, their rationale most often is that they’re just keeping their options open. About half of them also say they are “waiting to see the debate.” That might be the most hopeful news for those candidates going into the week.

(It is also a reminder that it’s another six or seven months before the bulk of voters get to cast ballots.)

A sizable four in 10 of these voters do cite Trump being “controversial” as another reason for considering others, perhaps reflecting uncertainty about what his future holds, and that it’s a talking point for other candidates. Comparably few currently say it’s because they think Trump could lose to Biden. 

Looking at what we can learn from the people not voting for Trump, for them, it’s that the party “should consider someone new” and for this much smaller segment of voters, there is concern about his electability, and what his legal fights might bring. The question is whether that sentiment can be expanded.

Primary voters tend to think, on balance, that it’s positive about Mike Pence if he was labeled “too honest,” but this isn’t an overwhelming sentiment. And a lot aren’t sure. 

And with regard to Jan. 6, 2021, specifically, by two to one, MAGA identifiers say Pence did the wrong thing by counting the electoral votes on that day, rather than the right thing (though many are unsure). Non-MAGA Republicans are comparably more likely to think Pence did the right thing.