59% of Republicans want Trump for president in latest WSJ poll

A new Wall Street Journal poll released on Friday showed that former President Donald Trump gained support in the Republican presidential primary, with 59 percent of GOP voters listing him as their first choice. This is an 11 percent increase from the same poll in April. 

The poll, which took place between August 24 through 30, surveyed 1,500 registered voters with 600 Republican primary voters in the mix. It revealed that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis maintained second place but lost the support of 11 percent of GOP primary voters, going from 24 percent in a previous WSJ poll in April to 13 percent in August.

The poll showed GOP primary voters had a 75 percent favorable view of the former president with 60 percent having a very favorable view of him. Florida Governor DeSantis dropped from 84 percent favorable in April to 70 percent favorable, with 32 percent having a very favorable view of him. 

Former President Trump has been indicted in four separate cases with the recent charges stemming from allegations of violating the Georgia RICO Act and conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 71 percent of GOP voters polled said they believe the charges to be politically motivated and without merit. 

70 percent believe charges related to the former president allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 federal election and prevent its certification on January 6, 2021, to be politically motivated and without merit. 67 percent said the same about charges related to allegedly mishandling classified documentation after he left office, and 61 percent believe charges related to his alleged role in paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels through his lawyer to be without merit. 

A Harvard Harris poll in June showed that 50 percent of Americans believe the indictments will help the former president politically, and 56 percent believe they are simply election interference by the Department of Justice. A January poll had him with the support of 48 percent of Republicans, and former President Trump has continued to gain support since the indictments started.