Former President Donald Trump’s national lead over his nearest rival has surged from an impressive 11 points in January to a gargantuan 33 points despite a wave of bad news for him and President Joe Biden’s stepped-up attacks on the MAGA base.

The latest Morning Consult survey has Republican primary voter support at 56%, up from 52% last month and 45% in January when the widely respected pollster first started testing the 2024 campaign and potential candidacy of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The popular governor, meanwhile, has seen his support shrink from 34% to 23%, though he remains the only Trump challenger in double digits.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is third at 7%. His support hasn’t changed in the four months of polls.

In addressing the growing support gap favoring Trump, the pollster said, “That 33-percentage-point lead over the past several days marks Trump’s largest since Morning Consult’s tracking of the hypothetical matchup began in December.”

In expanding his lead with core Republican voters, Trump has flicked off concerns about his age, rage, and legal challenges.

What’s more, as he prepares to be deposed in a New York state suit Thursday, a week after a Manhattan district attorney indicted him in a hush payment case, the former president has overcome bad news and strengthened his position as the leading 2024 Republican candidate.

Morning Consult found that voters were aware of the bad news around Trump but don’t seem to care.

“Potential Republican primary voters were 27 points more likely to hear something negative than positive about Trump recently, marking his worst showing in the buzz metric, even as he’s gained support and his favorability rating has ticked up following his New York City arraignment,” said the survey analysis.

It also found that those potential candidates most likely to offer themselves up as an alternative to Trump are stalled. The latest, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, for example, hasn’t raised his name recognition despite the media’s focus on his criticism of Trump.

Said Morning Consult:

“Hutchinson Doesn’t Make Much of a Splash: Nearly 7 in 10 potential Republican primary voters (68%) didn’t hear much about former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s announcement that he would seek the GOP’s 2024 nomination last week. Just 1% of potential GOP primary voters said they would vote for him if the 2024 GOP nominating contest in their state were held today, and just about a third of them have formed opinions about him — ranking his awareness alongside that of entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.”