GOP voters say Trump retains support but believe controversies distract from issues

Republican voters who spoke with Fox News on Wednesday agreed former President Donald Trump did an excellent job in the White House, but some hope for a different candidate with fewer distractions becomes the nominee.

While Trump has yet to announce whether he will attend the first GOP primary debate, which will be moderated by Fox News Channel anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier on August 23, Republican voters in key swing states had differing opinions on whether he should be their nominee.

Deb Ludwig, an Ohio voter, told "The Story" Trump did a "pretty good job" in his four years as president, but she would like to see a candidate like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis go up against President Biden.

"I would prefer [Trump] did not run. I'd like to make the election about the people and about the country," she said.

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Former President Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

"And I think we're going to get all hung up on Trump, which is unfortunate," she said. "Too many voters can't get past" the controversies surrounding the front-runner, she suggested.

DeSantis' inability to break through the remainder of the Republican field was however a concern for Ludwig, who added the governor has been great for the state of Florida.

MacCallum noted that Ludwig's comments somewhat mirror an AP poll released Wednesday showing 69% of Americans do not want Trump to run for a second term, while a slightly greater amount – three-quarters of Americans – don't want Biden to run again.

If elected, Trump would be the first president since New Jersey-born Democrat Grover Cleveland to serve nonconsecutive terms.

Pollster Kellyanne Conway, a former adviser to Trump, said she agreed with a separate poll depicting a majority of Republicans' support for all qualified candidates to attend the Fox News debate.

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"I'm one of them," she said, adding that it is a form of "direct democracy" where the public is provided free-of-charge access to the candidates – and that the hopefuls are also forced to field tough questions in a group setting.

She noted how from 1980 to 2008, a Clinton or a Bush had been on a presidential ticket in every election.

"So, Americans love to say, 'I don't want Trump or Biden.' But then they go to Chick-Fil-A every night in the minivan and order number three. We love to talk that we're revolutionaries. We want new things. They have all these choices. And yet Biden is probably going to be the nominee with Harris as his running mate. And Trump is the front-runner," Conway said.

"I think the more important polls are the ones that [MacCallum is] pointing out, which is who's responding to the voters who are showing up in these states. And then also, what percentage of the vote does Biden have among Democrats right now – and does Trump have among Republicans?"

Conway said voters are essentially "shopping around" given the new era of repeat candidates atop ballots.

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Noreen Johnson, a Pennsylvania Republican voter, was asked by MacCallum about a Quinnipiac poll showing a majority of Republican voters believing a felony conviction should make any candidate ineligible for the presidency.

"Trump's base is the most loyal base on planet Earth. He has the strongest people that are behind him… these attacks and these accusations and even these indictments and the 400 charges, it's incredible" she replied.

"[T]he target is not Donald Trump. It is us. It is Americans. He's just in the way."

Johnson quipped that polls and news reports may project one storyline, but it is until election day or close-to that the true feelings of Americans come out – pointing to how Hillary Clinton's campaign was forced to cancel its massive New York City fireworks show on Election Night 2016, after it was clear Trump defeated her.

In that way, she said the true barometer will be the consensus that comes together after Trump's various indictments are adjudicated – calling the charges a "joke."

Johnson added that she hopes Trump does debate his competitors.

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