Former President Trump
Donald TrumpHouse Votes To Condemn Chinese Government Over Hong Kong Former Vice President Walter Mondale Dies At Age 93 White House Prepares For Chauvin’s Ruling MORE pushes back on a poll commissioned by his former national security adviser that shows his grip on the GOP loosening in his post-presidential life.
In a statement released Tuesday by the leadership of former president PAC, Trump’s pollster John McLaughlin insisted that Trump remains “ the strongest endorsement I’ve ever seen in politics ” and that most GOP voters are keen to get the former president launch a new campaign for the White. House in 2024.
Polls consistently show that when President Trump gives his approval, it almost always clears the field and puts his America First candidate on the road to victory, McLaughlin said. “That’s why everyone comes to Mar-a-Lago for their support.”
McLaughlin cited a slew of numbers from unidentified polls to back up his claim that the former president would have a clear majority of GOP voters by 2024 before directing his criticism of the John Bolton
John BoltonHillicon Valley: Facebook’s Board of Trustees Set to Decide Ban on Trump in ‘Coming Weeks’ | Russia Blocks Biden Cabinet Officials In Retaliation For Sanctions Russia Blocks Key Biden Cabinet Officials From Entering In Retaliation For Sanctions The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented By Tax March – US Vaccination Effort Hit By Johnson & Johnson Pause MORE, the former national security adviser who has emerged as a vocal Trump critic.
“John Bolton’s failed bellicose views are completely out of touch with the current Republican Party and the majority of Americans,” McLaughlin said. “President Trump’s successful America First policy has kept us safe. This is a big reason Republicans want him to flee again. “
McLaughlin’s statement came hours after Bolton’s super PAC, the John Bolton PAC, released the findings of a poll showing Trump’s position among Republican voters was weakening.
That poll found that the number of GOP voters the former president finds “very favorable” has fallen 19 percentage points since a separate poll from another pollster was conducted in October. It also found that half of Republican primary voters are not guided by Trump’s opposition to certain candidates.
The survey was commissioned by Bolton’s super PAC and conducted by veteran North Carolina GOP pollster Carter Wrenn. It is based on responses from 1,000 general election voters, including 600 Republican voters, and does not indicate when the poll was conducted. The margin of error for the entire sample is 3.1 percentage points. This is 4 points for the Republicans surveyed.
Releasing the poll results on Tuesday, Bolton said he hoped to close the so-called rhetoric gap – the gap between what experts say is true and what voters really believe.
“We were motivated in part because of the tangible discrepancy in our public discussion between what commentators, politicians and others claim about the current and future status of the Republican Party, and the evidence they hold to support their claims,” said Bolton.
“It is clear that we are dealing with a ‘rhetorical gap’, a significant gap between opinions and facts,” he added. “One of our main goals here is to help close that rhetoric gap.”
But the poll’s findings also cast doubt on Trump’s influence on the GOP and its constituents in the months since he left the White House. The former president has sought to remain a king in GOP politics, endorsing the loyalists and attacking Republicans he believes crossed him.
Certainly, many Republican incumbents and candidates are still clamoring for Trump’s support, believing this is their ticket to front-runner status, especially in conservative districts and states where the former president remains popular. And prospective Republican presidential candidates in 2024 are watching Trump closely to see if he decides to make another bid for the White House.
The poll by Bolton’s super PAC found that Trump remains the candidate with the most substantial support among primary voters. But in a field of seven people, Trump received only 50 percent support, with the remaining 50 percent undecided or split among other candidates.