New Survey: Emerging GOP Divisions on President Trump Loom Over 2018 and 2020 Elections

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The eighth annual American Values Survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), released this morning at an event with The Brookings Institution, finds fractures in the Republican Party over the Trump Presidency. Approximately one in three Republicans (31 percent) say they would prefer the 2020 Republican nominee be someone other than Trump.

President Trump may face additional political challenges before 2020. If the 2018 midterm elections were held today, 44 percent of registered voters would support the Democratic candidate. Just 37 percent would vote Republican. Women make up much of the Democratic advantage: More than half of women (51 percent) express a preference for the Democratic candidate, while only 31 percent say they would vote Republican. Men are more likely to favor a Republican candidate than a Democratic candidate, but by a much narrower margin of 43 versus 36 percent.

"After a tumultuous first year in office, a significant minority of Republicans would prefer another candidate in 2020," notes PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. "But key Republican base groups such as white evangelical Protestants are maintaining their commitment to the President, with nearly a third saying there is nothing Trump can do to lose their support."

Just over four in ten Americans (41 percent) approve of the job President Trump is doing as president, while a majority (54 percent) disapprove. But Trump retains significant support among rank-and-file Republicans and white evangelical Protestants. Eighty-four percent of Republicans, including more than nine in ten "strong" Republicans (91 percent), approve of the job Trump is doing as president. More than seven in ten white evangelicals (72 percent) approve of Trump's job performance. Notably, nearly one-third of white evangelical Protestants (30 percent) say there is almost nothing Trump could do to lose their approval.

Americans remain sharply polarized in their views of the opposing party. Negative views of the other party among partisans are nearly identical. A majority of Republicans (52 percent) say the Democratic Party's policies are so misguided they present a threat to the country, and 39 percent believe Democratic policies are misguided, but not dangerous. Democrats hold similarly negative attitudes toward Republicans: Most Democrats (54 percent) feel GOP policies pose a threat to the country, while 38 percent believe they are simply misguided.

Partisan divisions are transcended in one area—by Americans' widespread belief that recent stories of sexual harassment and assault are part of a larger pattern. Seventy percent of Americans say recent media stories about such abuse represent a broader pattern of how women are often treated, rather than being isolated incidents. There are modest but significant differences across lines of gender and party affiliation. Nearly eight in ten women (78 percent) and more than six in ten men (63 percent) see recent allegations of such behavior as part of a broader pattern of how women are treated. More than seven in ten Democrats (77 percent) and Independents (73 percent) and roughly six in ten Republicans (59 percent) agree as well.

The survey's full findings, including support for the Trump's agenda on taxes, healthcare and the budget, as well as survey methodology can be found here: https://www.prri.org/research/american-values-survey-2017/

PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in research at the intersection of religion, values, and public life.

SOURCE PRRI