The fact that Donald Trump's legal troubles are only serving to boost the former president's poll ratings impressively has left hosts and guests of many mainstream media outlets taken aback.
"It is kind of shocking in a way, that despite all of the baggage that Donald Trump carries, he's tied with Joe Biden right now," host Of 'This Week', George Stephanopoulos, told his audience, as he cited revelations of a recent survey.
Released on Saturday, the poll showed that around 46 percent of voters would vote for US President Joe Biden, with the same amount of voters willing to support former US President Donald Trump if the presidential election were held today.
"With every passing month, with every new indictment, Donald Trump seems to be consolidating his control over the Republican Party," the media personality said in wonder.
As many as 8 percent of respondents stated in the survey that they were undecided as to who they would vote for. However, if a third-party candidates were added to the mix, Trump would potentially lead Biden by 1 percentage point, 40 percent against 39 percent, with the share of undecided voters growing, to stand at 17.
When questioned about the indictments against Trump, more than 60 percent of Republican primary voters insisted that the criminal charges lacked merit and were politically motivated.
Other media hosts appeared to be just as stunned by the survey, marveling at how Trump's four indictments still left him tied with Biden.
"After the mugshot and four criminal indictments, you would think that President Biden would have [a] significant advantage, but apparently not," bemoaned White House correspondent Peter Baker.
The poll's findings alarmed Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile.
Biden is facing an uphill battle and needs to redouble efforts on the 2024 campaign trail, warned Larry Sabato, Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
"Biden has work to do," Sabato succinctly told a US media show.
Recent polling also showed that as far as GOP primary voters were concerned, Trump faces no challenge from any of the other 2024 Republican hopefuls. POTUS 45 remains the top choice for the White House for 59 percent of GOP primary voters. This is up by 11 percentage points since April.
Trump’s lead over top rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who can only boast 13 percent support, has nearly doubled since April. It now stands at 46 percentage points. Other hopefuls have yet to break out of single-digit numbers of support.
The polling results come as the ex-POTUS appears to have successfully turned his legal troubles to his advantage. After having been indicted on four occasions in the past five months, Republicans have rallied around him. Donald Trump’s fundraising effort has also made quite an impressive haul of late, reportedly raising $7.1 million since his arrest in Georgia on 24 August.
As for Trump's earlier indictments, they have all allowed the campaign to accumulate nearly $20 million in the past three weeks, a source was cited as telling US media.
Trump has been indicted four times since leaving office: in New York, for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments; in Georgia, for alleged attempts to overturn the election; in Florida, for his alleged mishandling of classified documents; and in Washington, DC, for his alleged role in the Capitol riot.
Meanwhile, Biden has been facing grim polling numbers; the incumbent's approval ranking sank below 50 percent after August 2021 and has been hovering there ever since. A poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found no more than 36 percent of US adults think Biden is doing a good job in handling the economy. An AP-NORC poll also found that only 24 percent of Americans would like Biden to run for a second term in 2024. Even among self-described Democrats, 55 percent said they don’t want the incumbent to have another shot at the White House.
Furthermore, at least 77 percent of voters believe 80-year-old Joe Biden is too old to serve as US president in a second term, a survey revealed. According to AP-NORC's findings, 89 percent of Republicans insist Biden would hardly be able to handle the top office job for four more years because of his age. The view was shared by 69 percent of Democrats. These polls come as a plethora of similar surveys reflected US voters’ doubts related to Biden's physical and mental ability to perform his duties.