Trump’s now infamous “hot mic” comments while aboard an Access Hollywood tour bus have caused not only a flurry of GOP endorsement withdrawals and calls for his withdrawing from the race, but according to one poll released today, they’ve also prompted GOP voters to demand that the Republican party continue to support Trump.
From a former RNC chair saying Trump’s campaign “can’t be salvaged” and Condoleezza Rice saying “Enough” and calling on Trump to resign to such disparate members of Congress as Jason Chaffetz, John Thune, Mike Lee, and John McCain withdrawing their endorsements, the political class on the Republican side has made its feelings about Trump in light of the most recent revelations quite clear.
Equally clear, at this point, is that some Trump mega-donors and the majority of Trump voters want the GOP to stand by their man.
A wave of Republican officials abandoned Donald Trump on Saturday, but, at least for now, rank-and-file Republicans are standing by the party’s presidential candidate, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted immediately after audio was unearthed Friday that had the GOP nominee crudely bragging about groping women and trying to lure a married woman into an affair.Overall, fewer than four-in-10 voters — 39 percent — think Trump should end his presidential campaign, while only slightly more voters, 45 percent, think he should not drop out.
Breaking this down by party, the numbers are predictable with Republicans supporting Trump and Democrats declining to do so.
Politico continues:
But voters are largely viewing Trump’s comments through their own partisan lens: 70 percent of Democrats say Trump should end his campaign, but just 12 percent of Republicans — and 13 percent of female Republicans — agree.As of now, GOP voters largely want the party to stand behind Trump. Nearly three-quarters of Republican voters, 74 percent, surveyed on Saturday said party officials should continue to support Trump. Only 13 percent think the party shouldn’t back him.
Overall support for Donald Trump dropped just one point in a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll taken immediately after the 2005 Access Hollywood video leaked. Trump would get 38 percent of the vote if the election were held today, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would get 42 percent.The poll is the first national survey to test voters’ opinions after the video became public Friday afternoon. A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll taken days earlier on October 5-6 had Trump at 39 percent and Clinton at 41 percent.
The poll shows support for Trump among GOP voters, but it also shows that Hillary is ahead in both a four-way and a two-way race.
Politico concludes:
Still, Hillary Clinton leads Trump in the four-way race for the White House by four points, 42 percent to 38 percent, with eight percent supporting Gary Johnson, three percent supporting Jill Stein and nine percent undecided. Clinton also leads by four in a two-way race, 45 percent to 41 percent.Operatives in both parties say they believe it will take several days — and Sunday night’s debate at Washington University in St. Louis — to have the video bake into the public consciousness.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY
