Since 2015, the media and political establishment have worked overtime to demonize former President Donald Trump and drive a wedge between him and his supporters.
In spite of the incessant attacks, the effort has been a dismal failure, as recent polling shows that solid majorities of Republicans want the former president to continue to be an influential figure in the GOP, Breitbart reported.
Republicans favor Trump over establishment
A survey by Rasmussen Reports between Feb. 16-17 asked 1,000 likely voters, “As the Republican Party reorganizes itself going forward, should it be more like former President Trump or more like the average GOP member of Congress?”
Among the Republican respondents to that survey, 72% said that the GOP should follow the path charted by Trump, while only 20% said the party should more closely resemble the average congressional Republican.
The survey, which had a margin of error of 3%, also asked respondents to choose whether Trump should remain a leading figurehead of the party or if the GOP should move away from Trump. The pollsters found that 73% of Republicans favored Trump continuing to be a prominent party leader.
Remain involved as a party leader
These findings are similar to the results from CNBC‘s All-American Economic Survey, an online poll of 1,000 Americans with a 3.5% margin of error, which also asked respondents whether Trump should continue to lead the Republican Party or be ousted from politics.
Seventy-four percent of Republican respondents wanted Trump to remain an active participant in politics, 48% wanted him to remain the undisputed leader of the GOP and only 26% wanted him out of politics completely.
In a recent Morning Consult poll which surveyed 2,000 voters between Feb. 14-15 with a 2% margin of error, the former president’s support wasn’t quite as strong — though still a solid majority.
That poll found that, among Republican voters, 59% wanted Trump to be a “major figure” in the GOP and 54% said they would back him in 2024 if he ran for the Republican presidential nomination again.
Trump more favored than McConnell
A separate poll from Politico/Morning Consult, which surveyed 1,987 registered voters between Feb. 12-15 with a margin of error of 2%, revealed the disparity in how Republicans view Trump compared to the nominal head of the GOP establishment, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Among Republicans, McConnell was viewed favorably by 34% and unfavorably by 53%. Trump, however, had a favorability rating of 81% while being viewed unfavorably by only 18% of Republicans.
It should be abundantly clear now, as it has been for years, that a substantial majority of Republican voters still choose Trump over the GOP establishment. Leading Republicans would be wise to take that into consideration and realize that the people who matter most still want him around as an influential leader of the party.
The post Polls show Trump remains more popular with Republicans than GOP establishment first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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