Trump leads DeSantis by 39 points, Vivek jumps to second place: Rasmussen poll

A new poll released on Monday has found that nearly 50 percent of likely GOP primary voters nationwide would vote for Donald Trump if the election were to be held that day, and reveals DeSantis slipping behind Vivek Ramaswamy. 

According to the poll, conducted by Rasmussen Reports and Enforce the Law PAC, 49 percent of likely GOP primary voters would vote for Trump. 

The next highest person was entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, at 11 percent, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has more frequently been polling in third place, at 10 percent.

"Not Sure" received the next-highest response rate, at 9 percent, followed by Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 7 percent, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina at 4 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, both at 3 percent.

The poll also found that 44 percent of likely GOP primary voters believe Trump did nothing wrong in relation to the four indictments against him. 28 percent suspected that Trump did "something wrong but not criminal," while 24 percent said he was guilty of committing crimes.

Voters said they would be more likely to support a Republican candidate if they defended Trump, at 44 percent. The response is evident in Ramaswamy now frequently polling in second place ahead of DeSantis, as the tech entrepreneur was relatively unknown to the public when he entered the race.

If Trump was prevented from running for president because of his criminal cases, 24 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they would vote for Ramaswamy instead, 23 percent said they’d vote for DeSantis, and 15 percent said they were unsure.

Inflation was the largest concern for voters in the upcoming presidential election, at 23 percent, followed by government corruption at 20 percent. 

The survey was conducted between August 19 and 21 of 818 likely GOP primary voters and has a margin of error of 3 percent.