Donald Trump enjoys approval of two-thirds of GOP members after Capitol riot, 57% will support him in 2024: Poll
President Donald Trump was on Wednesday, January 13, impeached for the second time by the Democratic-controlled House in 13 months. This time it was on charges of 'inciting insurrection' at the Capitol Hill a week back and he is now the only president to have been impeached twice. A number of members from own Republican Party have also backed the impeachment and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has ruled out Trump’s trial in the upper chamber before his term ends, has privately expressed pleasure over the Democrats’ move against him.
But despite the backlash that the commander-in-chief has faced from across the political spectrum following the January 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol that saw five people dead, a recent poll has revealed that Trump still commands strong GOP support. According to the Ipsos/Axios poll, 64 percent of Republicans support the outgoing president’s recent behavior which includes allegedly urging his supporters to storm the seat of the Congress when it met to count the electoral votes to affirm Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.
The poll said 43 percent of the Republicans strongly approved of Trump’s behavior while 20 percent somewhat approved, leading to a net approval of 64 percent in the GOP. On the other hand, 34 percent (20 strongly and 14 somewhat) of the Republicans disapproved of the president’s behavior while two percent skipped the question. In the Democratic camp, an overwhelming 94 percent strongly disapproved of Trump’s recent behavior and only one percent strongly approved.
The violence at the Capitol marked the lowest point in America’s democracy and saw Trump getting banned by a number of popular social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook. Various academic institutions rescinded honorary degrees that they gave him in the past and eventually, he was impeached with just a week left in the office. Overall, Trump’s net approval rate was found to be only 29 percent while 69 percent disapproved of him.
Pence gets higher approval rating than Trump
Vice President Mike Pence got an even higher net approval among the GOP members -- 74 percent. Thirty-three percent of the Republicans strongly approved of his behavior around the same time while 41 percent somewhat approved. Among the Democrats, Pence got a 33 percent approval rate. The former Indian governor decided to stick to his constitutional role despite being pressured by Trump and his supporters to influence the electoral votes in favor of the incumbent president. Trump called him a coward after he refused to surrender and the relationship between the two top officials soured. Pence’s total approval rate was at 50 percent and total disapproval rate at 47 percent. The poll featured 1,019 interviews and they took place between January 11 and 13.
US is falling apart, feels 79%
The survey also made a shocking revelation that 79 percent of those the poll covered believed that America was falling apart while only 20 percent thought otherwise. Among the Republicans, 83 percent believed the country was falling apart (41 strongly agreed, 42 somewhat agreed) while the figure was 78 percent among the Democrats.
When the respondents were asked whether Trump should contest the 2024 presidential election -- unless the Senate votes to impeach him and takes away his capacity to hold a public office -- 57 percent of the Republicans backed the idea while 97 percent of the Democrats did not.
Fifty-nine percent of the Republicans surveyed also disagreed that Trump damaged other Republicans’ chances to win elections while only 40 percent agreed. Among the Democrats, the corresponding figures were 15 and 85 percent, respectively.