Poll: Most in GOP Would Back Trump

Support for 2024 run rebounds after Senate acquittal
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2021 2:55 PM CST
Poll: Most in GOP Would Back Trump
A crowd of supporters gathers Monday to see former President Trump drive by in his motorcade in West Palm Beach, Fla.   (Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post via AP)

Donald Trump has left the White House—and public view, for the most part—but indications are his base of support is not going anywhere. A poll conducted as his Senate impeachment trial ended in acquittal has found that 54% of Republican voters would back Trump in a 2024 presidential primary. That's the same level of support he had in November, Morning Consult reports, before it slipped just after the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Forecasts that Trump's popularity would fall appear to have been premature; instead, the share of Republicans who assign some blame to Trump for the riot fell 14 percentage points, to 27%. The number of GOP voters blame President Biden for the riot rose 4 points, to 46%, and those who said Democrats in Congress are responsible climbed 10 points, to 58%.

A solid majority of Republicans, 59%, want Trump to continue to play a major role in the party, up 18 points since the riot. In hypothetical matchups, the poll found the former president trouncing Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, and other potential opponents, including Donald Trump Jr. Those figures are reflected in state Republicans' moves against senators who voted Saturday to convict Trump, though there's been a 5-point drop since the riot in Republicans who see their party moving in the right direction, to 46%. Overall, 51% of Americans are unhappy with the Senate's decision to acquit Trump. But the Politico Playbook notes that Republicans "just can't quit him," and moved past their qualms about Trump's responsibility in the Capitol attack quickly. (Sen. Mitch McConnell has defended his contradictory positions.)

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