(WGHP) — Since he improbably won the Republican nomination for president in 2016, Donald Trump has been a unique focus of attention not just in America’s national politics but most certainly within Republican Party politics.
Some of Trump’s support has waned over these past six years, but he is still working to be a major influence within GOP politics.
“The 2022 midterms will really clarify this 2024 picture,” North Carolina State University Political Scientist Andrew Taylor said. “He’s trying to make the case that he still has…a positive effect for Republican candidates, so he’s playing favorites in a number of primaries, including in our state and saying…’hopefully, that it was my endorsement that really made the difference. This is why that candidate won because I endorsed them, so I still have the magic touch.’”
Ask Western Carolina Political Scientist Chris Cooper whether he agrees that Trump’s endorsement still means something, and he’ll tell you “it does. It’s not a guarantee of victory. It’s not a guarantee of defeat, but it does matter. I think you can see that even just right on the mailers the party sends out. When you get something from Michael Watley, the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, there’s a picture of him shaking Donald Trump’s hand right on that mailer. I think that says at the very least that the party says Donald Trump still matters.”
Michael Bitzer, of Catawba College, agrees that Trump is probably the number one influencer within the party and suggests it’s likely to stay that way through this November’s general election just as it was in the past election cycle.
“I think you only have to look at the Georgia runoff US Senate races to kind of see when Trump went against saying ‘show up to vote. We can’t trust these things. Your vote may not count.’ I think there was a depressing effect,” Bitzer said.
For the Never Trump movement, though, there is hope.
“The proportion of respondents who say they consider themselves Republicans above supporters of President Trump is going up quite a lot,” Taylor said.
See more on The Trump Effect in this edition of the Buckley Report.
