Trump leads GOP primary field by more than 40 points in new poll

Former President Trump’s lead is expanding in the GOP primary field, with the front-runner now leading his GOP rivals by more than 40 points in a new poll.

An NBC News poll released Sunday showed he has 59 percent of likely support among Republican primary voters, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had 16 percent support. Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley had 7 percent; former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie registered 4 percent each.

Trump’s recent legal battles do not appear to hinder his lead in the GOP primary field. The poll shows Trump’s lead has expanded since June, when an NBC News survey showed Trump ahead of DeSanits by 29 points — 51 percent to 22 percent — following his indictment for mishandling classified documents after he left office.

Since the June poll, Trump has been charged in two additional cases, including in Washington, D.C., over the former president’s attempts to stay in power after the 2020 election and in Fulton County, Ga., for an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results.

NBC News said Trump’s gains came from men, seniors and moderate Republican voters.

Trump has cited his leading poll numbers in choosing not to attend the GOP primary debates. Having already skipped the first debate last month, he plans to skip this week’s debate in California and instead speak to a group of union workers in Detroit amid the ongoing Union Auto Workers strike at three automakers.

The NBC News poll was conducted Sept. 15-19 among 1,000 registered voters. It has an overall margin of error plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Updated at 10:43 a.m. ET