Trump retains overwhelming support from Republicans after deadly U.S. Capitol attack

By Tucker Higgins

President Donald Trump retains overwhelming support from Republican voters in the final days of his term, an NBC News poll conducted after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol shows.

Nearly nine in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance, according to the survey, a figure virtually unchanged from just ahead of the November contest. Eighty-nine percent of Republicans said they approved of Trump before the election, compared to 87% in the most recent poll.

The poll, which comes as Trump faces an unprecedented second impeachment trial in the Senate, suggests that Republican support for the president did not waver as a result of the Jan. 6 attack in Washington, in which Trump supporters violently delayed the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

The data foreshadows the political trouble GOP leaders could face if they attempt to sideline the outgoing president. Trump and his allies have threatened to work against Republicans who refused to back his attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.

Overall, Trump’s approval rating was 43%, well within the same narrow range throughout his entire term in office. Trump’s approval was 44% in February of 2017, shortly after he was inaugurated. Experts have said that the stability of Trump’s ratings reflect an extraordinarily polarized U.S. electorate.

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