If former President Donald Trump created a new party, nearly half of Republican voters would leave the Republican Party to join it, a new poll finds.
A Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll found that if Trump created a party, 46% of Republican voters would ditch the GOP to join it. Meanwhile, 27% said they would not, with the rest being undecided.
Additionally, it found that half of those polled believe the Republican Party should become “more loyal to Trump,” “even at the cost of losing support among establishment Republicans,” as USA Today reports. Only 19% said the party should become less loyal to Trump.
The poll was conducted Feb. 15-19 with 1,000 Trump voters.
A Republican, Brandon Keidl, told USA Today, “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. But then you have establishment Republicans who just agree with establishment Democrats and everything, and they don’t ever push back.”
Trump is expected to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. It will be his first post-presidential appearance.
Axios reports, citing top Trump allies, that the former president plans to push the message that he is Republicans’ “presumptive 2024 nominee.”
He also reportedly intends to push the message, “I may not have Twitter or the Oval Office, but I’m still in charge.”
President Trump hugs American flag after walking on stage at #CPAC https://t.co/JkNwS9Oc2m pic.twitter.com/rTJFhRrn3D
— The Hill (@thehill) March 3, 2019
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Axios’ Mike Allen, “Trump effectively is the Republican Party. The only chasm is between Beltway insiders and grassroots Republicans around the country. When you attack President Trump, you’re attacking the Republican grassroots.”
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly not expected to speak at CPAC, which will be held Feb. 25-28.
CPAC Executive Director Dan Schneider told MSNBC on Sunday night, “We are pleased the president will be joining us, and we’re disappointed the vice president’s not coming. We think it’s a mistake for him not to come.”
He continued, “He’s spoken at CPAC 13, 14 times over the years, and I know if he were to come to CPAC, he would be treated very warmly with great respect, and frankly, I really hope that he reconsiders, and if he wants to come, we’ll make room for him.”
