Former President Donald Trump is polling 30 percentage points ahead of the competition in a new Fox Business poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers. The poll found 46% of likely caucus participants support Trump, while 16% support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and 11% back South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
The rest of the field, including Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and others are polling in the single digits.
In addition to asking Iowa Republicans who they would vote for, the pollsters also asked who they would never vote for. Pence topped that list at 37%, followed by Trump at 22%, Haley at 21% and DeSantis at 17%.
Trump is currently facing two indictments and according to reports he could soon be indicted a third time. Interviews with Iowa voters indicate those indictments may actually be helping him. The Washington Post spoke with Iowa voters who support Trump and they described his legal troubles as a “witch hunt,” a “farce,” and a “smear campaign.”
66-year-old Vickie Farmer told the Post that she is set on Trump.
“I was very happy with the way things were going. I don’t think he is guilty of nearly all of the things they’re accusing him of,” Farmer said.
70-year-old Randy Mitchell said he’s tired of all the controversy but added he would vote for Trump if he’s the nominee.
“If he makes it through, I’ll probably … I just don’t know if I’ll support him in the caucus. I get tired of it,” Mitchell said.
The Iowa caucuses aren’t scheduled yet, but they could happen as early as January 2024. That means caucusgoers and primary voters in other states won’t know whether Trump is convicted in the Manhattan district attorney’s hush money case, nor the classified documents case in Florida.
Those trials are scheduled for March and May respectively.
