A new poll from CBS News and YouGov shows that GOP voters still support Donald Trump and why they support them.
Donald Trump: King of the GOP?
Donald Trump, once again, is leading in the polls for the Republican nomination for president, but a new poll shows the temperature of the GOP electorate heading into the primary season.
A new poll from CBS News and YouGov has Trump with 58 percent support, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 22 percent, former Vice President Mike Pence and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy with 5 percent each, and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley with 4 percent. Neither DeSantis nor Pence has yet declared their candidacy officially.
According to CBS News, “There’s big demand for a candidate who says Trump won in 2020, who challenges woke ideas, who doesn’t criticize Trump and, for good measure, makes liberals angry. Trump leads in all of these areas.”
The poll also asked a series of questions, asking if they “prefer a candidate who…,” and the top answers were “challenges woke ideas” with 85 percent, “opposes gun restrictions” with 66 percent, “says Trump won in 2020” with 61 percent, and “makes liberals angry” with 57 percent.
CBS added that “Trump looks like a former president who left office popular with his party, and little that’s happened in the ensuing years has changed that.”
Those who said they supported Trump were asked why, and the top answers were “past performance as president” (94 percent), “fights for people like me” (94 percent), “would beat Biden” (84 percent), “how he deals with his political opponents (82 percent), “he actually won in 2020 (75 percent), “show support for legal fights” (65 percent), “I like him personally” (64 percent) and “he makes liberals angry” (51 percent.) On this question and others, voters could give more than one answer.
Among those who most want a candidate who “challenges woke ideas,” 59 percent support Trump, while just 24 percent back DeSantis, who has made combating “wokeness” his signature issue.
And the poll asked which candidate is favored among those who “want a candidate who favors Christians.” In the poll, 64 percent answered Trump, 17 percent DeSantis, 5 percent each Ramaswamy and Pence, and 3 percent each Nikki Haley and talk show host Larry Elder.
However, Trump does not have total support in the party. Per the poll, more than a quarter of GOP primary voters, 27 percent, are “not considering Trump,” which is more than the 24 percent who are considering voting for “only Trump.” Nearly half, 49 percent, are considering Trump as well as other candidates in the race.
CBS and YouGov also surveyed those who are in the “not voting for Trump” camp. Of those, 65 percent of voters say they “like other candidates more,” while 54 percent call him “too controversial,” 50 percent stated “how he deals with political opponents,” and 41 percent cited his “ongoing legal fights.”
Republican voters who aren’t voting for the former president were also asked how “Trump makes you feel.” “Exhausted” was the top answer with 49 percent, 32 percent said “empowered,” 29 percent said “confident,” and 29 percent answered “worried.”
And when asked “If not Trump, they prefer a candidate who…,” 37 percent said they want a candidate who “shows loyalty to Trump,” while 7 percent wanted one who “criticizes Trump.” A majority, 56 percent, said they want a candidate who “doesn’t talk about Trump.”
So Trump has a big lead in the Republican primaries but remains a non-starter with a not-insignificant portion of the Republican electorate. And when it comes to a general election, that could be important.
“His perceived combativeness may be a turn-off. Most don’t like how he ‘deals with political opponents,’ and more want to hear about him finding common ground with Democrats if elected again, than investigating and punishing them,” the CBS story about the poll said.
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Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
