What's ahead for Donald Trump? Over 50% GOP voters believe he will remain a major political force: Poll
Donald Trump lost his incumbent tag last Wednesday when Joe Biden took oath as the 46th president, making many heaving a sigh of relief. But if a recent survey is to be believed, his legacy seems to continue as a majority of voters of the Republican Party think that the businessman-politician will remain a “major political force” yet after the conclusion of his stay at the White House. Trump became the first American president of the 21st century to get only one term in office, thanks to his much-discussed defeat against Biden in the presidential election held last November.
According to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen, nearly 56 percent of GOP voters believe Trump will remain a key figure in the country’s political landscape while 34 percent felt he will not. In the Democratic camp, 60 percent said Trump will no longer enjoy his high political status that he did over the last four years while half of that figure felt he would. Among the Independents, 39 percent said Trump would stay relevant while 41 percent said the opposite.
It was reported recently by the Wall Street Journal that Trump has discussed with his aides to launch a new party named the “Patriot Party” which could see his loyalists from the GOP joining him. Trump moved to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida post-presidency and members of his family and some of his close aides have also moved to the Palm Beach area to show their support and loyalty to him. Stephen Miller, one of the former president’s top aides, told Washington Examiner that Florida is “really the perfect place” to emerge as the new headquarters of the MAGA movement and a launching pad for Trump’s future political plans. According to Examiner: “Initially, the plan is to play a role in the 2022 midterm elections, recruiting candidates to run in key House and Senate races and likely in Republican primaries against sitting members who voted to impeach Trump.”
Trump, who skipped the inauguration of Biden and became the first president in more than 150 years to do so, said in his farewell speech in Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that he will back in some form. The former president, who was accompanied by his wife Melania, has not conceded defeat against Biden claiming the election was a compromised one.
GOP divided over supporting Trump
The GOP has been left deeply split over the question to support Trump. Top leaders of the party in the Senate, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and senior Senator Lindsey Graham, have differed on the issue of impeaching the former president for allegedly instigating his supporters to storm the Capitol Hill on January 6. Graham even appealed to Trump to not to pardon those who carried out the violence saying it would hurt his image as the most important figure in the GOP, a stance that not many in the party do not agree with. The Republicans saw a sudden change in its position for the worse as it lost the presidency and also the control of the Senate and failed to flip the Democratic-controlled House in the latest election cycle.