Polling and interviews suggest the committee’s work is distrusted by Republicans but could nonetheless accelerate the party’s search for a Trump alternative.
The star witnesses have been Republicans. The Democratic committee members have gone out of their way to praise Republicans who stood up to Trump, chiefly his vice president, Mike Pence. And the committee’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney , has openly appealed to Republican voters.
Yet even as he does so, there are indications of possible shifts underway, with support for his prospective candidacy softening and Trump himself stewing over the lack of backing he has received on television and online from his fellow Republicans as the committee makes its case.Trump has called the hearings — which are expected to resume in September and probe the Pentagon’s response, Capitol security and fundraising by Trump and his allies, among other topics — a “scam.
“You can see the effect of the hearings in the percentage of Republicans who want him to run again,” said Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican pollster. “A great many Republicans are protective of him and defensive of their support for him but increasingly of the view that he carries way too much baggage to be the nominee in 2024.”released last week was the latest to show a diminishing share who want him to run for president again. Just 49 percent said they would support him for another nomination.
Frank Luntz, a veteran GOP pollster who attended the meeting in Aspen, said he detected “frustration” among Republican votersfallout from the hearings would affect “only Trump,” Luntz argued. That’s in notable contrast with Cheney’s prediction last month, directed at her Republican colleagues who have continued to support the former president: “Your dishonor will remain.
Advisers to other leading Republicans believe the hearings are solidifying concerns about Trump’s weakness. In their estimation, it’s less that the hearings on their own will disqualify Trump as a potential nominee, but rather that they will remind people of the things they dislike most about him.