The Republican factions most likely to support a Trump return in 2024


Despite the glaring partisanship that dominates much of American politics today, both Democrats and Republicans are "driven by factionalism and issue differences within their own coalitions," reports The Washington Post, per a new Pew Research Center study that divided the American electorate into nine groups — four Republican, four Democratic, and one "disparate" section.
For example, Republicans are internally divided over the role of former President Donald Trump, who they all "heavily backed" in 2020 but can't agree on where he should position himself moving forward.
More specifically, majorities in just two of Pew's four designated GOP groups — labeled the "Faith and Flag Conservatives" and the "Populist Right" — want Trump to run again. Faith and Flag Conservatives are described by Pew as "highly religious, politically engaged and both socially and economically conservative;" and 55 percent of them support a Trump 2024 run, after having largely backed him in 2020. Populist Right Republicans, however, are "very conservative on most issues but also look more skeptically at the economic system than other Republican groups, per the Post. Regardless, they are also "firmly in Trump's camp" — 57 percent believe he should take another shot at the White House.
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The other two GOP groups — classified as the "Ambivalent Right" and "Committed Conservatives" — feel less enthusiastic about Trump. Just 21 percent of the Ambivalent Right would enjoy if the ex-president ran again, and Committed Conservatives are overall "less likely" to want Trump to take centerstage in national politics moving forward.
The typology study was mostly based on a Pew American Trends Panel survey of 10,221 adults from July 8-18. Results have a margin of error between 3.9 points and 5.4 points. See more results at The Washington Post.
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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
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