More than half of the participants in a Politico/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday believe that former President Donald Trump should no longer have a role in the Republican party. However, in the same poll, Trump led a list of hypothetical GOP candidates for president in the 2024 election.
House Democrats impeached Trump in January, alleging that his repeated claims of voter fraud had created the environment that led to the Capitol riot on January 6. Democrats claimed that Trump incited violence against the U.S. government, but Trump was acquitted on Saturday in the U.S. Senate. Had he been convicted, Trump could have been prohibited from running for public office again. Some lawmakers have said that the Republican Party has become overtly Trump-centric. Others have supported the idea of Trump running for a second presidential term in 2024.
According to the poll, 54 percent of registered voters believe Trump should no longer play any sort of role in the GOP. Within that number, 50 percent of men and 57 percent of women agreed that Trump should shy away from the Republican party.
Democrats overwhelmingly supported the idea of Trump no longer being involved with the GOP by 77 percent. Only 17 percent of Republicans polled agreed with the concept.
Should Trump make another run for the White House, 53 percent of registered voters said they would vote for him over other high-profile Republicans. Former Vice President Mike Pence came in second place with only 12 percent of support. Other Republicans on the poll's list of choices included Utah Senator Mitt Romney, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Republican men accounted for 55 percent of the total percentage. Republican women made up 54 percent of that number while Independent voters comprised 45 percent.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll was conducted online between February 14 and February 15 from a pool of 1,984 registered voters. Weighting for the poll was based age, gender, education, race and geographical region. The poll carried a margin of error or plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Only seven Republicans joined Democrats in the Saturday vote to convict Trump, indicating that Trump still has a grip on the GOP.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, South Carolina Senator Graham said he spoke to Trump and has learned that the former president is "ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party."
"And I'm going to go down to talk with him next week, play a little golf in Florida," Graham added. "And I said, 'Mr. President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party."
Maryland GOP Governor Larry Hogan has urged Republicans to move forward without Trump. "I think we've got to move on from the cult of Donald Trump and return to the basic principles that the party has always stood for," Hogan told Meet the Press on Sunday.
Trump has not officially announced a second presidential run, but has indicated that he would keep his hand in the political arena. In a Monday statement, Trump said that he would "back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's representatives for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
