A poll released this past weekend indicates a majority – nearly 50 percent – of Trump voters would follow the former President to a new party and abandon the GOP.
The Suffolk University/USA TODAY survey shows 46 percent of those who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 would join the third party if he were to go that route.
“If there’s a civil war in the Republican Party, the voters who backed Donald Trump in November’s election are ready to choose sides,” USA Today writes. “Behind Trump.”
By contrast, 27 percent of Trump voters said they would stick with the GOP while another 27 percent said they were, as of yet, undecided.
The polling represents another in a series of findings that indicate voters are more in line with the vision of the former President than they are with the Mitch McConnells and Liz Cheneys of the world.
USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll of 1,000 Trump voters:
46%-27%, those surveyed say they would abandon the GOP and join the Trump party if the former president decided to create one. https://t.co/7kdlTKeKiJ
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 21, 2021
RELATED: Polls: Majority Of Republicans Want Trump In 2024, Prefer He Play Big Role In GOP’s Future
Trump Voters Willing To Abandon GOP
Poll after poll shows Donald Trump continues to be popular with Republican voters, a terrible sign for those trying to instigate an in-party civil war with the former president.
A vast majority of GOP voters want to see him play a big role in the future of the party, including running again in 2024.
A Rasmussen survey in late December indicated 72 percent of Republican voters want their legislators to be more like Trump and less like establishment politicians like McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader.
Brandon Keidl, 27, a Republican and small-business owner from Milwaukee, told USA Today following their survey why he supports Trump.
“We feel like Republicans don’t fight enough for us, and we all see Donald Trump fighting for us as hard as he can, every single day,” Keidl explained.
“But then you have establishment Republicans who just agree with establishment Democrats and everything, and they don’t ever push back.”
It really is that simple. Trump remains popular because he fights for the American people. It was true in 2016, and it will remain true even as we barrel toward 2024.
Former President Donald Trump surprised supporters during a Presidents Day rally held in West Palm Beach, Florida, Monday. Right Side Broadcasting Network captured the hundreds of loyal supporters cheering on the 45th President as his motorcade rolls down the street. pic.twitter.com/zjNdhNnobQ
— VINnews (@VINNews) February 15, 2021
RELATED: Poll: The Republican Party Is More Marjorie Taylor Greene Than It Is Liz Cheney
More Bad News For The Anti-Trumpers
To Keidl’s point, it seems that establishment Republicans of late are willing to fight harder against Donald Trump and his supporters – meaning the GOP base – than they ever were against Democrats.
Earlier this month, for example, a group of “anti-Trump” Republicans led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin announced that they are considering forming a political party of their own.
Republican Adam Kinzinger (IL), one of only 10 Republicans in the House to have voted in favor of impeachment earlier this year, formed a new PAC which he claims is fighting to “take back” the Republican Party from Trump.
Adam is a patriot who fought for America from Northwest Florida.
We will always appreciate & honor his service.
Now, he wants to target my America First politics, referencing me by name.
My response:
Fucking bring it.
Adam needs PACs to win elections.
I don’t. https://t.co/TE9TPt6QJv
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 11, 2021
Speculation of Trump forming a third party has been ongoing since the election, though those rumors have subsided a bit.
Perhaps more frightening for the establishment GOP?
The Guardian reports that Trump, in a speech he will deliver later this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida, is expected to argue that he is still the man to drain the Washington swamp as the Republican “presumptive 2024 nominee.”
This civil war isn’t going to end well for the party.