Republicans Associate Positive Qualities With Trump, not Haley

The Republican Presidential Primaries are down to just former President Donald Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, a recent YouGov poll asked Americans about the favorability of each candidate. The results found Trump leading in favorability and perceived ability to lead, despite his being wholly unpopular with Democrats. 

Half of Americans have “somewhat” or “very unfavorable” opinion of the 45th President, and half feel the same way about Haley. More hold a favorable opinion of Donald Trump and more are undecided about Haley than about Trump. Democrats are more likely than Independents and Republicans not like either Republican candidate-but more so about Trump. They are about four times as likely as Republicans to have a unfavorable view of the former President. The gap is much smaller on Haley. 

This echos results from a YouGov poll, conducted last year (February 2023), that compared Trump to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis-Trump’s top challenger before dropping out of the race last month. The poll found that a larger group of people had a favorable opinion of Trump than his director competitor. 

Trump and Haley have different strong suits, according to Americans. With a head-to-head comparison, 43% say Trump is a stronger leader, with just 11% saying the same about Haley. Trump beats Haley in being more decisive, charismatic, and conservative. More Americans say Haley is more ethical, even-tempered and willing to compromise of the two candidates. Approximately a quarter of Americans say each of the following: neither Trump nor Haley is a strong leader (24%) compassionate (24%) or likely to care about their needs (28%) 

Trump was previously seen as more charismatic and patriotic than DeSantis, in addition to being less willing to compromise. Similar numbers of Americans said Trump and DeSantis were qualified and the differences between Trump and DeSantis were smaller than those between Trump and Haley. 

The gaps between views of Trump and Haley are wider for Republicans and Independents who lean towards the right. People in this group are more likely to give all the qualities asked about to Trump. The notable exceptions being even-tempered and open to compromise, where Haley has the edge. 

The opinion of Trump being the stronger leader of the two Republican candidates is reflected when Americans were asked about some major issues the United States faces. The polling indicates Americans believe that Trump would be better at handling immigration, the economy, guns and health care. When asked who would be a better President, the gap between Trump and his opponent is larger when its Haley than when its DeSantis.

As for qualities, the gap between Republicans and right leaning Independents who prefer Trump and who prefer Haley, is larger than for Americans overall. For each issue polled, fewer than 15% of Republicans and leaning Independents believe Haley would do a better job than Trump.  56% of Americans say Trump is “conservative” or “very conservative” and 37% say that about Haley. Republicans are nearly evenly split as to the question of if Haley is a conservative or moderate (31% vs 32%) the majority of Democrats say Haley is conservative. 

31% say Trump is too old to do the duties of the job if he is elected come November but more (37%) say his age is irrelevant. Republicans are more likely to say his age, 77, is irrelevant. Just 2% say Haley, who is 52, is too old and 3% say she is too young to fulfill the duties of the President. 

In terms of Behavior, more Americans say that it is fair for the candidates to criticize each other. 43% to 34% for Trump criticizing Haley. 53% to 27% for Haley criticizing Trump. Similar shares of Republicans say it is fair for them to criticize the other, but Democrats are more likely to say its alright for Haley to go after Trump than for Trump to go after Haley. 

69% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans will say that is unfair for Trump to criticize Haley being the child of immigrants in particular. 

42% say it is unfair for Haley to criticize Trump for his age and 39% say it is fair. Republicans are more likely than Democrats and Independents to say Haley attacking Trump for his age is unfair. 

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