Congressional Republicans just spent two weeks running away from Donald Trump's appalling embrace of the domestic terrorists who attacked the U.S. Capitol last year and the national Republican Party's embrace of their cause as "legitimate." Now we have more polling showing why Republicans decided not to adopt the Jan. 6 attackers and Trump’s 2020 election lies as two of their top issues this year.
A newly released Morning Consult/Politico survey found that 50% of Republican voters said the GOP should move on from Trump's 2020 fraud claims rather than focus on them. Among Republicans, moving on from Trump's 2020 fraud obsession polled 13 points higher than not moving on from it, with just 37% saying the GOP should continue to focus on Trump's fraud lies.
Maintaining a focus on Trump's 2020 lies also tanks among independent voters, with just 17% of them wanting a continued focus on it, while fully 63% say the GOP should move on from it. That generally reflects the view of the broader public too, with 64% of registered voters overall saying the Republican Party should move along.
The survey also found that just 21% of voters viewed the deadly Jan. 6 assault as a “legitimate form political discourse.” Among independents, just 18% said it was a legit form of political discourse, while 51% said it wasn’t. But Republicans were roughly divided into thirds on the issue, with 33% saying it was legit, 38% saying it wasn’t, and 29% saying they were unsure.
The perpetrators of the attack, however, remain deeply unpopular. A Politico/Morning Consult poll released last week also found that 68% of registered voters said they do not believe participants of the Jan. 6 attack should be pardoned.
Congressional Republicans never grow a backbone for any reason other than self preservation. So it was notable the past couple weeks that some Senate Republicans entirely rejected the RNC's embrace of the Jan. 6 attack while most House Republicans dodged media questions on the topic.
Polling has now shown that all of Trump’s pet obsessions—the Jan. 6 attackers, the attack itself, and his completely delusional 2020 fraud claims—are broadly unpopular, even among Republicans, generally speaking.
Trump will, however, continue to beat that 2020 drum both because he simply cannot accept being a loser and because the topic still enthuses roughly one-third of GOP voters—certainly enough to fill his rallies with the hoots and hollers he craves and adores.
Related stories:
'Embarrassing,' 'stupid': Republicans blast national party as if it bears no relation to them
GOP feud over Jan 6. violence becomes epic disaster for party that once espoused law and order
New poll shows Jan. 6 attackers embraced by national Republican Party are a deeply unpopular cause