Poll: 64% Of Republicans Would Leave GOP For New Party Founded By Trump
Most Republicans said they will leave the GOP to join a third political party if former President Donald Trump pushes through with the idea, according to findings of a recent Hill-HarrisX survey.
The poll, conducted from January 28-29 among 945 registered voters, found 64% of current GOP voters saying they will move to the party to be led by the former President — with 32% saying they would “very likely join.”
A smaller percentage or 36% of Republicans said they are either “very unlikely” or “somewhat unlikely” to join Trump’s new hypothetical party.
Second biggest political party
“These numbers show that despite the Capitol riots Trump remains a political force to be reckoned with. He benefits from a diverse base of support making up over a third of voters, voters who are attracted to him on a number of issues that are yet to be properly addressed by, and co opted by, Democratic and Republican elites,” said Dritan Nesho, CEO and chief pollster at HarrisX, told Hill.TV.
“If Trump were to split from the GOP and create his own party, polling suggests he might well create the second largest political party in the country, knocking the GOP down to third place,” he added.
Some independents, Democrats consider joining
The same survey also found that 28% of those independents who participated in the poll saying they’d likely join a third political party to be founded by former President Trump — and an interesting 15% of Democrats saying they’ll also join his new party.
Overall, 37% of Americans surveyed said they’ll join the former GOP president if he does pursue the idea he reportedly floated last month of putting up his own political party — to be called ‘Patriot’s Party’ after an internal fallout with some top-ranking Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over the Capitol Hill chaos on January 6.
In his final speech as president, Trump assured his supporters that he will be back in politics “in some form.”
President Trump: It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president, I will always fight for you pic.twitter.com/Q1VdiJEOpu
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 20, 2021
Trump also said his four years in the White House was “only just the beginning.”
“As I prepare to hand power over to a new administration … I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning,” the former Republican President said.
“Remember us. We will be back in some form.”
The Hill-HarrisX survey had 340 people identifying as Republicans. It has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.