Enough Is Enough: GOP Support For Trump Hits Historic Low

President Trump has enjoyed reliably positive polling among Republicans who have stuck with him through thick, thin, and thicker, but in the face of a deadly riot at the Capitol and a historic second impeachment, many in the GOP seem to have had enough.

A new survey from the Pew Research Center conducted after the Jan. 6 insurrection seems to say even many of Trump’s fans have begun to wear thin on his norm-breaking presidency.

Trump could once bank on exceptional Republican poll numbers—the high 80s as recently as last month—but he now boasts support from just 60% of his party.

Overall, only 29% of adults liked the job Trump is doing. That’s Pew’s lowest-ever rating of the president’s popularity—it was 36% in 2017—and it is his worst showing in any poll conducted during the waning days of his administration.

The same percentage of Trump-approving Republicans, 29%, also “endorse Trump’s post-election conduct,” “hold him blameless for the riot,” “believe he is the election’s rightful winner,” and “want him to have a major role in politics going forward.”

It is too early to say what Trump will do after next week, but that steadfast 29% could signal party conflict as some Republicans try to redefine the GOP while Trump loyalists want more of the same.

A slightly smaller number, 25% of Republicans, rejected the following: “Trump lost the 2020 election by more than seven million votes,” and “his false claims that the election was somehow stolen from him have been rejected by numerous courts, including by judges appointed by Trump himself.”

When it came to impeachment, more than half of all respondents, 54%, said it would be better for the country if Trump were removed.

Because the last two weeks have been full of so much bad news for Trump, it is possible that “response bias” may be a factor. When a politician gets particularly bad press, supporters often stop responding to pollsters, causing approval ratings to drop.