Trump leads Haley by 28 points in South Carolina: survey

Former President Trump led former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley by 28 points in a new poll of likely 2024 Republican primary voters in her home state. 

In a Monmouth University-Washington Post poll released Thursday, 46 percent of likely GOP primary voters in South Carolina said they plan to vote for Trump in the February primary, while 18 percent said they plan to vote for Haley.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) came in third place, with 10 percent of the support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed at 9 percent.

When looking at the candidates’ combined first-choice and second-choice support among respondents, Trump received a total of 52 percent, Haley followed with a combined 34 percent, DeSantis had 30 percent and Scott had 25 percent. 

The poll also revealed a sharp difference in views of voters who indicate they plan to support Trump and voters who say they plan to back another candidate.

Only 36 percent of South Carolina’s likely GOP primary voters say Biden won 2020 “fair and square,” with 7 percent of Trump supporters holding this view and 62 percent of voters who support another candidate.

Fifty-seven percent of the respondents said Biden won due to fraud, with 87 percent of Trump supporters holding this view and 31 percent of supporters of another candidate holding this view. 

Similarly, Trump supporters were more likely to say abortion should be illegal and more likely to be concerned about discrimination against white people.

Asked whether abortion should be legal, 38 percent overall agree, including 23 percent of Trump supporters and 52 percent of supporters of another candidate. Asked whether abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, 58 percent overall say they agree, including 73 percent of Trump supporters and 44 percent of supporters of other GOP candidates.

Respondents were asked which was the bigger problem: “Blacks and Hispanics losing out due to preferences for Whites” or “Whites losing out due to preferences for Blacks and Hispanics.” Twenty-two percent overall said the former, including 6 percent of Trump supporters and 36 percent of supporters of another candidate. Forty-nine percent said the latter, with 65 percent of Trump supporters and 38 percent of supporters of another candidate.

The poll was conducted Sept. 6-11 and had a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points overall.