Former Fox News TV host Tucker Carlson was arguably the biggest winner on Wednesday as his interview with former President Donald Trump that was streamed on X – the social media platform that was previously known as Twitter – received millions of views. Trump even claimed victory stating it was seen 230 million times.
It wasn’t.
By most accounts, the video clip was seen around 15 million times. That is still an impressive number, given that the debate had about 13 million sets of U.S. eyeballs who saw at least part of it.
Trump opted to take part in the pre-recorded one-on-one after he had bowed out of the Republican presidential debate that aired on Fox News, claiming that he saw no reason to take part as he was so far ahead in the polls.
Perhaps this week some in his camp may be second guessing that decision.
Donald Trump Takes A Big Dip
According to a new poll from Emerson College, which was conducted days after the debate, Trump saw his support among Republican primary voters dip by six points, down from 56 percent support in a pre-debate poll. Though the former president can still count on support from 50 percent of GOP primary voters, it was the lowest support he’s seen to date in the Emerson poll.
By contrast, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saw his support increase by two percentage points, up to 12 percent; while former Vice President Mike Pence saw his numbers grow from three to seven percent; and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley also hit seven percent, up from just two percent. Notably, the poll’s respondents suggested that entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy won the first GOP debate, yet his support dropped from 10 to nine percent.
“While Trump saw a slight dip in support, the question from this poll is whether this is a blip for Trump or if the other Republican candidates will be able to rally enough support to be competitive for the caucus and primary season,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement.
“Different candidates have been able to pull varying demographic support from the Trump base,” Kimball added. “For example Mike Pence, who saw an overall four-point bump in voter support, was able to increase his support in the Midwest from 4 percent to 13 percent of the vote, while Trump saw his Midwest support drop from 54 percent to 42 percent after the debate. Nikki Haley’s support increased from about 2 percent to 9 percent among voters over 50 while Trump’s support dropped within this age group from about 56 percent to 49 percent after the debate.”
Donald Trump Up in Another Poll – Well, Sort of!
Trump’s “numbers” were up in another poll, but it isn’t likely good news for the former president.
According to a recent Politico Magazine/Ipsos poll, three in five Americans said that Trump should stand trial before the Republican primaries or at least the 2024 general election. A majority also agreed that “The Justice Department’s decision to indict Trump in the 2020 election subversion case was based on a fair evaluation of the evidence and the law” at 59 percent.
In addition, half the respondents also said they believe Trump should go to prison if convicted in the Department of Justice’s (DoJ’s) January 6 case. The other half disagreed and suggested the case against the former president is politically motivated.
Those findings just serve as a reflection of our deeply divided nation.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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