Following the indictment of former President Donald Trump for his involvement in paying hush money to a porn star, a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll was conducted, revealing that Trump has gained his largest lead ever over his potential 2024 GOP primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The poll indicates that Republican voters are rallying around Trump, the only U.S. president to face criminal charges. The previous Yahoo News/YouGov survey conducted less than two weeks ago showed Trump leading DeSantis by 8 percentage points (47% to 39%) in a head-to-head match-up among registered voters who identify as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. This is a significant shift from February when DeSantis held a narrow lead over Trump at 45% to 41%.

However, according to the recent poll conducted after the indictment, Trump is now significantly ahead of DeSantis, leading by 26 percentage points (57% to 31%) in a one-on-one contest. Even when placed against a larger field of ten potential GOP challengers, Trump has the support of the majority (52%, up from 44% in the previous survey) while DeSantis experiences a significant drop to 21% (down from 28%). However, no other candidate manages to receive more than ten percent of the support.

Similarly, the poll shows that 54% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters would now favor Trump as the GOP's 2024 presidential nominee, as opposed to "someone else" (33%). This marks an increase from the previous survey, where 51% preferred Trump and 39% preferred someone else.

The poll, which involved 1,089 U.S. adults, was conducted within the first 24 hours after the New York grand jury voted to indict Trump. As news regarding the case continued to unfold, some of the respondents' opinions may be tentative and subject to change. Therefore, some of the shifts observed in this initial snapshot may be temporary.

Currently, only 34% of Americans reported hearing "a lot" about "Donald Trump being indicted on Thursday in Manhattan." However, this number is expected to increase as more information becomes available in the coming days. Although Trump has been charged with over two dozen counts, the exact charges have not yet been revealed to the public. It is anticipated that they will be disclosed when he is arraigned in Manhattan on Tuesday.

According to a report by the Associated Press on Friday evening, Trump is currently facing multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony offense. This is most likely connected to the $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Cohen allegedly reimbursed and logged the payment as legal expenses by Trump while he was president.

Although some respondents may have expressed support for Trump in response to his indictment, it remains uncertain whether his legal troubles will have a positive impact on his chances of regaining the presidency in 2024.

On the contrary, the recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll indicates that Trump's legal troubles may harm his chances of securing a second term as president. The majority of Americans (52%) believe that Trump should not be allowed to serve another term if he is convicted of a crime in this case. Furthermore, the poll suggests that only a small percentage of people (31%) think that he should be allowed to serve as president if found guilty, with 17% being unsure. These results may prove to be worrisome for Trump's political aspirations.

Consequently, a larger percentage of Americans (45%) believe that Trump falsified business records in this case, as opposed to those who do not (26%). The uncertainty regarding Trump's conviction is also significant, as 39% of respondents are unsure, while only 30% believe he will be found guilty, and 31% think he will not.

This level of ambiguity, particularly among Republicans, exposes Trump to political vulnerability, especially if additional indictments and convictions ensue. Even among Republicans who support Trump in a hypothetical matchup against DeSantis, 14% believe that he should not be allowed to serve again if he is convicted in the hush money case.

The latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll indicates that President Biden maintains a two-point lead over Trump (45% to 43%) in the general election, unchanged from the previous poll. Despite this, the indictment has not caused any noticeable harm to Trump's reputation, at least initially. In fact, his favorable rating (45%) is slightly higher than in the 11 previous surveys where comparable questions were asked (ranging from 40% to 43%). Furthermore, Trump's favorable rating among Republicans has increased to 79% (up from 74% after the 2022 midterm elections). The poll also indicates that there have been slight increases in positive perceptions of the former president and slight decreases in negative perceptions on a series of repeated questions.

1. 62% of respondents believe that "Trump says what other politicians are afraid to say," up from 55% in December 2022. 
2. On the other hand, 49% of those surveyed agree that "the only thing Donald Trump cares about is himself," down from 53% in December 2022. 
3. When asked if Trump "respects women," 34% responded positively, up slightly from 30% in August 2020. 
4. Furthermore, 35% of participants believe that Trump is honest and trustworthy (up from 30% in August 2020), while 47% disagree. 
5. Additionally, the number of people who believe that Trump's family is corrupt has decreased from 49% in October 2022 to 44%, while the percentage who disagree has increased from 36% to 36%.