US President Donald Trump looks on after presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Celtics basketball legend Bob Cousy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on August 22, 2019.
Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
A CNBC poll conducted in the days leading up to the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump found that a large segment of Republicans want him to remain party leader, but the majority of Americans want him out of politics.
The CNBC All-America Economic Survey shows that 54% of Americans want Trump “completely removed from politics”. That was the opinion of 81% of Democrats and 47% of Independents, but only 26% of Republicans.
When it comes to Republicans, 74% want him to stay active in some way, including 48% who want him to stay head of the Republican Party, 11% who want him to start a third party, and 12% who who say he should remain active in politics, but not as party leader.
“When we talk about Donald Trump’s future, the poll right now shows that he still has that strong core support in his own party that really wants him to continue to be its leader,” said Jay Campbell, an associate at Hart Research and the democratic pollster for the poll.
But Micah Roberts, the poll’s Republican pollster and partner with Public Opinion Strategies, emphasized the change from Trump as president. Pre-election polls regularly showed that Trump has a GOP approval rating of around 90%, which means that at least some Republicans have deviated from Trump.
The online poll of 1,000 Americans across the country has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. It was conducted February 2-7 ahead of Trump’s Senate riot and sparking the January 6th riot in the Capitol. In the unlikely event of a conviction, the Senate could prevent Trump from ever holding public office again.
The poll shows that Trump continues to enjoy strong support among non-college Americans, a key population group for the GOP: 89% of the group want him to stay in politics, including 52% who want him to stay head of the Republican Party . That’s the highest percentage of any group and a potential red flag for Republican Party leaders if they vote to condemn Trump.
