Poll finds many Republican voters not done with Trump just yet
(CN) — As Republicans look to the future of their party, most remain very much behind the ideas advanced by former President Donald Trump –– and have not ruled out supporting him if he makes another run at the White House.
A Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday found an overwhelming 85% of Republican voters say they would like to see future political candidates who align with the ideologies spearheaded by the former president. Another 66% of GOP voters suggest they would like to see Trump take another shot at running for president in 2024, a feat no former president has successfully pulled off since Grover Cleveland in the 1890s.
These welcoming feelings for Trump, however, are not shared by the overall American public. Just over half of Americans at large believe future political candidates should not be on the same page with Trump while 66% do not want to see another Trump bid for the White House.
Republicans also remain on their own when it comes to how they view the 2020 presidential election. Over six months after President Joe Biden was declared the winner in the 2020 contest, 66% of GOP voters believe Biden’s win was not legitimate. An almost identical percentage of overall Americans say the opposite and believe Biden’s win was fair.
Tim Malloy, a polling analysist for Quinnipiac University, said the numbers make it clear the voters who catapulted Trump to the presidency in the first place remain firmly behind him and his ideology.
“The numbers fly in the face of any predictions that Donald Trump’s political future is in decline,” Malloy said with the release of the poll. “By a substantial majority, Republicans: (1) believe the election was stolen from him, (2) want Trump to run again, and (3), if they can’t vote for Trump, prefer someone who agrees with him.”
Regarding the current occupant of the White House, Americans are divided on his job performance. Just under half (49%) of Americans say they believe Biden is doing well in office so far, while 41% say they disapprove of his performance. Unsurprisingly, around 90% of Democrats give him a favorable review while an almost identical share of Republicans say the opposite. Independents, meanwhile, are about evenly split on their feelings towards the president.
Biden is, however, living up to the expectations of most. While around a quarter of Americans each believe that Biden is either doing a better or worse job than they anticipated, more than half say he is doing pretty much as well as they thought he would.
When asked about Biden’s handling of the biggest issues facing the nation, the president gets his highest marks on his management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly two thirds of Americans (65%) say he has done a good job managing the virus crisis thus far while just 30% say they disapprove of his work.
While support for Biden’s handling of several other key issues, like the economy and taxes, are a bit more split down the middle, the president gets his lowest grade when it comes to his approach to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Just 29% of Americans believe Biden is handling the situation in the Middle East correctly and just over half think he’s done poorly. Another 20% said they had no opinion on the matter.
As both Republicans and Democrats gear up for the midterms next year, Americans say they have different visions for the future of the two political parties. While 57% of Americans believe that the GOP is headed in the wrong direction and another 46% say the same of the Democrats, 49% of Americans say they would like to see the Democrats retain control of the House of Representatives. Another 40% say they want Republicans back in charge.
Wednesday’s poll of 1,316 U.S. adults contained a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7%.