The Always Trumpers

Created
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 09:00
Updated
Wed, 01/02/2023 - 09:00
The Bulwark did some polling specifically to look at how many Republicans are intractable Trump supporters. As it turns out, he’s pretty weak in the party as a whole but there is a strong minority who are still do or die. And that’s a problem: But, as Sarah notes, we need some historical context here. Even though most Republican voters want to move on from Trump, his solid core of support might be enough to win him early, winner-take-all-primaries. She reminds us what happened in 2016: Iowa 24.3 percent (Trump came in second)New Hampshire 35.3 percent (Trump came in first)South Carolina 32.5 percent (Trump came in first) Trump then went on to dominate the field in Nevada with 45.9 percent of the vote before catapulting into Super Tuesday with enough momentum to win 7 of the 11 states. And with the GOP’s “winner take all” or “winner take most” delegate apportionment rules, in a big field of candidates, devoted pluralities can be telling. The Always Trumpers Here’s the dilemma for the GOP. Despite clear evidence of Trump Fatigue, the “Always Trump” faction of the GOP will follow Trump to the gates of Hell. One question that Sarah was anxious to test with this poll was “how many ‘Always Trumpers’ would follow Trump if he lost the GOP primary and launched an independent bid for president.” This is why it is dangerous to under-estimate Trump. Sarah writes: [Even]though Trump is as weak as he’s ever been, even though he is beset…