Question10 Overall Do You Think Donald Trump Has Had A Mainly Positive Or Mainly Negative Impact On
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoPositive 43% 85% 7% 46% 47% 38% 36% 53%Negative 49 9 88 46 44 55 60 37DK/NA 8 6 5 8 9 7 4 10 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspPositive 38% 39% 47% 47% 54% 42% 48% 12% 52%Negative 50 53 46 49 39 50 45 85 39DK/NA 12 8 6 3 7 8 8 4 10
How Early Trump Supporters Feel Now
The former presidents 2015 backers, in their own words
About the author: Conor Friedersdorf is a California-based staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs. He is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction.
Now that Donald Trumps presidency is over, how do the Americans who supported him at the beginning of his political run feel about his performance in the Oval Office? I put that question to 30 men and women who wrote to me in August 2015 to explain their reasons for backing his insurgent candidacy.
Among the eight who replied, all in the second week of January, after the storming of the Capitol, some persist in supporting Trump others have turned against him still others have lost faith in the whole political system. They do not constitute a representative sample of Trump voters. But their views, rendered in their own words, offer more texture than polls that tell us an approval rating.
As I did in 2015, Ill let the Trump voters have their say. But this time Ill conclude with some thoughts of my own, in my capacity as a Trump critic who knows that Americans have no choice but to coexist, as best we can, because our political and ideological differences are never going away.
And now?
The third correspondent told me in 2015 that hed vote for Trump, despite knowing that he would do a terrible job:
His assessment today:
Baffled By Support For Trump
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It baffles me as to how people can continue to support former President Donald Trump.
In my view, Trump has done more to destroy democracy than any other president in history. He tried to steal an election. He incited a riot against Congress. He has his minions trying to change election laws to make it harder to vote. He essentially tried to destroy NATO and rebuffed our allies while playing footsies with Russia, China and North Korea. He had in his possession confidential documents from the White House, and who knows what he did or intended to do with them.
In addition, I believe that Trump is an embarrassment to this country because of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. And he made idiotic remarks about buying Greenland, dropping a nuclear bomb on a hurricane, and Italy allegedly using its satellites to change the votes in election machines.
It seemed that, while Trump was in office, a day didnt go by without him lying about something. If he was Pinocchio, I believe that his nose would stretch from one end of the country to the other.
I could go on, but there is a word limit for letters to the editor.
So for those who continue to support Trump, brush up on your history and I believe that you will see similarities between Trumps actions and what happened in Nazi Germany. If you continue to support Trump and his cohorts who promote his lies and do his bidding, I believe that you are helping to destroy democracy.
George Mavros
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Republican Voters On Their Preferred Candidate For President
If the Republican 2024 presidential primary were held today, who would you vote for if the candidates were:
Donald
Asked of 350 respondents who said they planned to vote in the 2024 Republican primary in a New York Times/Siena College poll from July 5-7, 2022. Respondents who answered someone else or did not offer a response are not shown.
The greatest threat to usurp Mr. Trump within the party is Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who was the second choice with 25 percent and the only other contender with double-digit support. Among primary voters, Mr. DeSantis was the top choice of younger Republicans, those with a college degree and those who said they voted for President Biden in 2020.
While about one-fourth of Republicans said they didnt know enough to have an opinion about Mr. DeSantis, he was well-liked by those who did. Among those who voted for Mr. Trump in 2020, 44 percent said they had a very favorable opinion of Mr. DeSantis similar to the 46 percent who said the same about Mr. Trump.
Should Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump face off in a primary, the poll suggested that support from Fox News could prove crucial: Mr. Trump held a 62 percent to 26 percent advantage over Mr. DeSantis among Fox News viewers, while the gap between the two Floridians was 16 points closer among Republicans who mainly receive their news from another source.
Mr. Trumps troubles inside his party leave him hamstrung in a matchup against an unusually vulnerable incumbent.
Why Would You Still Support Trump
I use common sense when deciding who should be the leader of the United States of America. The hearings about Donald Trumps activity during the January 6 riot on the Capitol is really happening. Many of Trumps followers still believe the election was rigged even after most of his administration and his daughter have all testified that he had lost the election. Psychiatrists believe Trump is mentally ill and if he runs in 2024, it will be a threat to democracy. How can Trump followers believe whatever he says? Trump has been a lying, corrupt, cheating scoundrel who has been ripping off everyone for his entire adult life. He was a high school bully and a spoiled brat. He claims he is pro-life and is against illegal immigration. Ask him how many abortions with mistresses he has paid for, or how many illegal, underpaid immigrants working for him? He also worships dictators and loves racists. The media is not against Trump. The only reason Fox News does not say anything bad about Trump is because he owns them. How can a despicable man sway so many people? Are you all a bunch of lemmings? Trump lives in a parallel universe that is not reality.
Steven Birt
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I Just Want To Watch The Chaos
I wanted to explain why Id vote for Trump. There are 2 main reasons:
His desire to be a successful president to feed his ego could paradoxically motivate him to be an extremely willing, conscientious delegater, surrounding himself with effective political operatives so he could stick to his strength of being a showman. Partly I just want to watch the chaos unfold if a purely ego-driven man were to experience success with a presidential run. Im a young guy who is immature, a bit antisocial, and with no plans for kids or a wife ever. At some level, I dont really care how things go with America as long as its fun to watch, like watching a basketball game when your favorite team isnt playing. I hope this sheds light.
New Concerns Over American Democracy
Throughout his tenure, Donald Trump questioned the legitimacy of democratic institutions, from the free press to the federal judiciary and the electoral process itself. In surveys conducted between 2016 and 2019, more than half of Americans said Trump had little or no respect for the nations democratic institutions and traditions, though these views, too, split sharply along partisan lines.
The 2020 election brought concerns about democracy into much starker relief. Even before the election, Trump had cast doubt on the security of mail-in voting and refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power in the event that he lost. When he did lose, he refused to publicly concede defeat, his campaign and allies filed dozens of unsuccessful lawsuits to challenge the results and Trump personally pressured state government officials to retroactively tilt the outcome in his favor.
Most Americans placed at least some blame on Trump for the riot at the Capitol, including 52% who said he bore a lot of responsibility for it. Again, however, partisans views differed widely: 81% of Democrats said Trump bore a lot of responsibility, compared with just 18% of Republicans.
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Views Of Donald Trump Four Ways
Based on a New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,399 registered voters nationwide from Sept. 6 to 14, 2022. Questions regarding Mr. Trumps actions after the election and whether he has committed crimes were each asked of half the sample.
That level of Trump support has effectively been unchanged since the last Times/Siena poll, which was fielded in July amid televised hearings by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. It was also fundamentally similar to levels of support Times/Siena polls and other surveys found in recent years.
The publics view of Mr. Trumps fight against the election results also remained largely unchanged, with 54 percent in the most recent survey saying his actions posed a threat to democracy and 38 percent saying he had just exercised his right to contest the election.
And roughly half of voters said they thought Mr. Trump had committed serious federal crimes, while 38 percent thought he had not. That was similar to the responses from July, when respondents were asked more specifically about Mr. Trumps actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump has signaled another run for president. In a hypothetical rematch in 2024 with President Biden, 45 percent said they would support Mr. Biden, while 42 percent said they would support Mr. Trump.
I dont know too much, he said. When the race starts getting closer, Ill start paying attention, but right now hes just at the forefront for me.
Michael Cohen On Why Republicans Support Trump: Were Stupid
Michael Cohen has offered a blunt explanation for why Republicans, including himself, have supported President Donald Trump despite his numerous wrongdoings and attempts to dismantle Americas democracy.
During an appearance on MSNBC, Trumps former longtime fixer and personal attorney told host Joy Reid that he predicts Trump, if he loses, will claim the Nov. 3 election was rigged and use Attorney General William Barr to invalidate ballots that he will say are fake in order to stay in office.
He doesnt care about the Constitution of the United States, he said. He believes that hes above everything.
Reid noted that Trump cant do these things alone and that Cohen and many others went along with Trump for a long time. She asked, Why do they do it?
Because were stupid. You know, were a bunch of sycophants, Cohen said without hesitation. Hes very much like a cult leader. When youre in his good grace, you believe that you have this enormous amount of power, which you do, and he somehow manages to convince you to use that power for bad.
Hes very much like a cult leader, Michael Cohen says of President Trump. When youre in his good grace, you believe that you have this enormous amount of power, which you do and he somehow manages to convince you to use that power for bad.
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Millions Of Americans Support Use Of Force To Restore Trump To White House: Report
An estimated 21 million Americans believe that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president and that former President Donald Trump should be restored to the White House by force.
Thats the disturbing finding of a new report from the University of Chicago that seeks to understand what motivated the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Despite Drift Toward Authoritarianism Trump Voters Stay Loyal Why
Despite his authoritarian tendencies, President Donald Trumps supporters have stayed with him because of a complex interplay of economic, cultural and racial factors, resulting in a fierce, almost cult-like loyalty, said scholars at the University of California, Berkeley.
More than a month has passed since the fiercely contested U.S. presidential election, and the nations institutions are moving day-by-day toward acceptance of the outcome that made Democrat Joe Biden the winner over incumbent Republican Donald Trump. But Trump is neither conceding nor moving on and, it appears, the same is true for millions of his supporters.
The numbers, presumably, dont lie: Results certified by officials from both parties show Biden defeated Trump by more than 7 million votes. Since the polls closed, however, Trump has blitzed the nation with unproven claims that he was robbed of victory by widespread fraud, and today only 15% of his 74.1 million voters say Bidens win is legitimate.
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Donald J. Trump
Some suggested that generations of creeping economic insecurity have inspired deep anger, compelling many voters in the white middle and working classes to embrace Trump, flaws and all, because he challenges the American status quo.
Adam Jadhav, Ph.D. student in geography
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Bill Press: How Could Anyone Still Support Donald Trump
On Thursday evening, Jan. 21, the Select Committee on January 6 wrapped up the season with a blockbuster hearing, its eighth, into Donald Trumps role in the violent insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Netflix could not have produced a better series.
Like bookends, its first and last hearings were especially powerful. On June 10, the committee opened by showing never-before-seen video of the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6. In this weeks finale, the committee closed by documenting what Donald Trump was doing at the White House for 187 minutes, while that violent attack was taking place.
The answer? He was sequestered in his private dining room for over three hours, watching Fox News. Which, as members Adam Kinzinger and Elaine Luria pointed out, doesnt mean Trump was doing nothing. He made a conscious choice not to do anything to stop the violence. He called Rudy Giuliani. He called Republican senators. But he did not call the Pentagon, the D.C. Metropolitan Police, or the Department of Homeland Security to ask for help. He didnt even call Mike Pence, whose life was literally on the line.
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Trump Attorney: We Look Forward To Defending Against New York Fraud Claims
In the New York civil suit, Trump is facing accusations that he and his family engaged in long-time deception, including about his net worth, as part of a fraudulent effort to minimize tax bills and otherwise benefit financially.
The case isnot without reputational liabilities for Trump. Even before the lawsuit was announced, there had been concerns inside Trump world that the former presidents ongoing focus on the 2020 election and Trumps effort to overturn it may damage him by casting him as a figure of the past. That has turned up in polls showing Republicans openness to alternative candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024, and in Trumps approval rating ticking down.
The New York lawsuit, said Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist who was a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, likely just further consolidates his base. But he said, a lot of this stuff is going to keep coming, and this drip-drip-drip just chips away. Even a drop of water over a few years can erode a cliff of granite.
But in the short term, the lawsuit may do more damage to Trumps potential Republican rivals in 2024 than to the former president.
All of these things are continued gifts to President Trump, said John Thomas, a Republican political strategist who had been organizing a PAC to support DeSantis in 2024, but who put those plans on hold after the FBI raid and subsequent rallying of Republicans around Trump.
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What To Know About The Civil Fraud Lawsuit Donald Trump And Family Face In New York
An intricately detailed, 200-plus page civil lawsuit lays out New York Attorney General Letitia James case that former President Donald Trump, three of his children, his companies and his business executives defrauded lenders, insurers and other entities.
This conduct cannot be brushed aside and dismissed as some sort of good-faith mistake, James told reporters Wednesday.
No one, my friend, is above the law, she added.
Trump and his company used false and misleading financial statements, her lawsuitalleged, repeatedly and persistently to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, and to induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums.
Trump responded to the lawsuit by calling James a fraud who campaigned on a get Trump platform, despite the fact that the city is one of the crime and murder disasters of the world under her watch.
Filing the lawsuit allows James to publicly air a wide-ranging assortment of financial fraud allegations, which the attorney general says played out for a decade and touched on nearly all aspects of Trumps business empire. James said shes also made referrals to federal law enforcement authorities.
Heres what to know about the new case James has brought:
Question8 Would You Like To See Donald Trump Run For President In 2024 Or Not
ADULTS..................................................... WHITE........ 4 YR COLL DEG Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Yes NoYes 35% 78% 4% 35% 40% 30% 24% 53%No 58 16 94 58 51 64 71 41DK/NA 7 6 2 7 8 5 6 7 AGE IN YRS.............. WHITE..... 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Men Wom Wht Blk HspYes 29% 37% 40% 37% 50% 37% 43% 9% 33%No 63 56 55 57 44 57 51 89 58DK/NA 8 8 5 6 6 6 6 2 8
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