Fifty-four percent of Republicans say President Trump best represents the values of their party, according to a new American Barometer poll.
Only 31 percent of all respondents said Trump best represented the GOP’s values, according to the survey conducted by Hill.TV and the HarrisX polling company.
Some Republicans expressed surprise that the number was not higher given Trump’s standing as the leader of the party.
“I’m frankly a little bit surprised that it’s not a larger percent of Republican voters saying that he represents the party. Not necessarily because he does embody the party, but more he’s the face of the party,” Republican pollster Chris Wilson told Hill.TV’s Joe Concha on “What America’s Thinking.”
Eighteen-percent of Republicans polled said Pence best represented the values of the party, while 10 percent said the same for House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Two percent of Republicans polled said that House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) best represented the party’s values, while only one percent said the same about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Trump defeated a large group of GOP candidates in winning his party’s nomination in 2016, and created fissures in the GOP in doing so. But his approval ratings among Republicans have been high in his presidency, and other office holders have come under pressure to bow to his demands given support among grassroots Republicans for his presidency.
The poll comes as Republicans look to defend both houses of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
November’s contests are widely expected to be a referendum on Trump’s first two years in office.
The American Barometer poll was conducted on August 10-11 among 1,000 registered voters. The sampling margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
— Julia Manchester
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