The New York Times (NYT) explained that the secret to the recent surge in former President Trump’s approval rating is that white-collar Republicans who were skeptical of former U.S. President Donald Trump have changed their minds. By embracing highly educated Republicans from the existing blue-collar (blue-collar workers) conservative class, the obstacles that were holding back Trump’s rise have been reduced.
NYT published this analysis on the 14th (local time), citing the results of various public opinion polls conducted over the past year. This media outlet has been pouring out absurd statements such as former President Trump’s claim that “the 2020 presidential election was a fraudulent election” and that “the Constitution must be abolished” right after the Republican Party’s poor performance in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. He explained that although he was not popular among white-collar Republicans, the mood had recently turned around.
In fact, in a poll jointly conducted by Suffolk University and USA Today right after the midterm elections, 76% of Republicans who graduated from college answered, “I want another Republican presidential candidate.” However, in a survey conducted by the same organization this month, 60% of them responded that they support Trump. Likewise, a Fox News poll found that Trump’s approval rating among white Republicans who graduated from college has roughly doubled over the past year, currently reaching 60%. The change in mood is also explained by the recent poor performance of Trump’s rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose main support base is white-collar Republicans.
NYT predicted that this change could have a significant impact not only on this presidential election but also on Trump’s future political standing. According to a poll conducted by AP Boat Cast on more than 110,000 voters, 9% of Republicans did not vote for Trump in the last presidential election. Election experts analyzed, “Compared to only 4% of Democrats leaving Biden in the same election, the departure of 9% would have clearly been a factor in Trump’s defeat.” However, according to the NYT’s own data analysis, it is estimated that 56% of the Republicans who left at the time were highly educated.
However, as a result of interviews with 24 college-educated Republican voters, this media outlet found that they did not turn to MAGA (Make America Great Again), which is called Trump’s extreme support base, and are looking for other Republican candidates. However, it was diagnosed that due to the current political situation, support for Trump was inevitable. It is said that many people changed their minds because they thought that if another candidate ran for president, they would not be able to beat current President Joe Biden, or because they were concerned that they would resign.
Ruth Ann Cheney, 65, a retired nurse from Iowa, said, “I originally supported DeSantis, but I gave up because his campaign was a mess. I also considered Vivek Ramaswamy, but decided he was too inexperienced to beat Biden.” did.
Trump’s subsequent legal indictments also appear to have rallied conservative forces. Yolanda Gutierrez, 94, a retired real estate broker, said, “I considered DeSantis because I thought the party needed a younger leader, but I prefer Trump now that Democrats are considering every means possible to put him in prison.” In fact, before he became the first former president to be indicted in March of last year, Trump’s approval rating was less than 50%. However, just four days after the indictment, it surpassed 50% in national opinion polls and is currently up even further.
The unstable international situation was also cited as one of the reasons for supporting Trump. Linda Farrar (72) said, “I like candidate Nikki Haley, but right now national security is important,” and said she liked Trump’s hard-line remarks against China. According to this media outlet, Trump’s opposition to aid to Ukraine also gained popularity. In addition, “the economic situation was good during former President Trump’s term until the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19)” and “concerns about border issues” were mentioned as reasons for supporting Trump.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.