Trump’s standing rises among Republicans: survey

Former President Trump’s standing among Republicans has slightly improved since leaving office, with about half of GOP respondents indicating in a new poll they’d like to see him play a significant role in the party’s future.

Fifty percent of Republican voters polled in the new Morning Consult survey said Trump should play a “major role” in the party, an increase of 9 percentage points since his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol after he addressed them and repeated unproven claims of election fraud. 

Women drove the uptick with a 15-point surge among likely GOP female voters who say they wish to see Trump as a key player in the party’s future. 

Wednesday’s survey also found 81 percent of Republicans have positive views of Trump, with more than half saying they hold strong feelings on the issue. On the night before his second impeachment by the U.S. House over his role in the rioting, 76 percent of Republicans said they viewed him favorably. 

Three in 10 Republicans also said in the new poll that they would prefer to join a “Patriot Party” if it were led by Trump, with 25 percent saying they would be undecided in such a scenario. 

Trump has not made any definitive statements about his political future since leaving office last week, saying “we’ll be back in some form” during his final remarks as president. 

House impeachment managers delivered an article of impeachment for “inciting insurrection” to the Senate earlier this week, and senators were sworn in as jurors on Tuesday for an upcoming trial. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a point of order on the Senate floor declaring the impeachment of a former president is unconstitutional and therefore the Senate should not hear the case against Trump. 

Only five Republicans broke with their party and voted with Democrats to table Paul’s motion, which failed but indicated the majority of the caucus led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is unlikely to vote to convict Trump. Democrats, who hold a slim majority in a 50-50 Senate with a Democrat in the White House, would need 67 votes to do so. 

Trump has signaled support for at least one former aide seeking public office after spending time in his White House. 

Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday announced her intention to run for governor of her home state of Arkansas. She touted Trump’s accomplishments, vowed to take on “the radical left” and picked up the former president’s endorsement a few hours later. 

Trump and other former top aides have created an “Office of the Former President” that they said will handle his “correspondence, public statements, appearances and official activities.” 

The Morning Consult poll was conducted Jan. 22-25 among 599 Republican voters and 581 Trump voters. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.