


The base is sticking with former President Donald Trump.
Both fundraising and polling conducted after his indictment over his alleged mishandling of highly classified state secrets suggest support for the 45th president on the Republican side.
“Since deranged Jack Smith took the unprecedented step of weaponizing the justice system to attack his political opponent, Donald J. Trump for President 2024 has raised more than $6.6 million in just a few short days,” his campaign declared Wednesday evening.
That includes over $4.5 million from digital fundraising, with an additional $2.1 million from Trump’s event at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club Tuesday night.
The former president was perhaps temporarily shocked into silence after his historic arrest and processing for 37 federal felony charges Tuesday. About 16 hours later Trump would echo his campaign’s fundraising assertions, thanking — one assumes sarcastically — the people he claims are behind the indictment for the sudden windfall.
“Really big fundraising, even greater polls, since the radical left indictment hoax was initiated by the misfits, mutants, Marxists, & communists! Thanks you,” he wrote on his Truth Social media account.
As if to prove his past assertion he could shoot a man on New York’s Fifth Avenue and not see any slip in support, and despite a total of 71 felony charges stacked against him, Trump’s base recently indicated to pollsters that any accusations against the leading Republican 2024 candidate are politically motivated and not likely to change their belief in his innocence.
According to a survey of 1,500 adults conducted over the weekend by The Economist/YouGov, Trump continues to hold a 30-point lead over the next leading conservative candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
When asked if the primary were to be held today which candidate they would choose, 51% of Republicans picked Trump, with DeSantis scoring 20%, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence both at 4%.
That matches a similar survey conducted by Quinnipiac University in the days after Trump announced he would face arrest for a second time since leaving office. According to that poll, Trump enjoys the support of 53% of Republican voters, with DeSantis again trailing by 30-points. Haley, Pence, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott see 4% support.
Both polls show Trump and President Biden in a dead heat for a second term in the White House.