Voters Reject Policies Proposed at First Republican Debate and Don’t Think Trump’s Absence Hurt His Chances
By Rob Todaro
The first Republican primary debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle took place August 23. Notably, the clear frontrunner for the nomination — former President Donald Trump — declined to participate.
When the eight candidates who attended the debate were asked if they would pardon Trump if elected president, six raised their hand. However, besides that question, Trump was not mentioned or attacked much on the debate stage at all. The candidates, particularly Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis, spent more time proposing policies that are unpopular among a majority of voters, including Independents. New Data for Progress polling finds:
67% of Independents oppose shutting down the Department of Education.
58% of Independents oppose sending U.S. military forces into Mexico to fight drug cartels.
54% of Independents oppose breaking up the teachers’ unions.
53% of Independents oppose pardoning Trump for any criminal charges against him.
Further, despite former Vice President Mike Pence’s claims that 70% of Americans support a 15-week abortion ban, Data for Progress finds that voters oppose establishing a 15-week national abortion ban by an -11-point margin, with only 37% supporting a ban.
In comparison, voters support many of President Biden’s policies that were attacked on the debate stage by Republican candidates:
77% support expanding the production of clean energy in America.
76% support expanding Medicaid and Medicare to more Americans.
75% support raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
72% support addressing climate change.
Our poll also finds that 52% of voters who identify as Republican or lean Republican say the GOP primary candidates should endorse the Republican nominee in the general election, regardless of who it is, while 37% say they should not have to.
Thirty-eight percent of Republicans say that Trump should have attended the debate, while 45% say he should not have. In comparison, 47% of Independents say Trump should have attended the debate and 36% say he should not have. However, 58% of voters, including 61% of both Republicans and Independents, think that Trump’s absence from the debate did not change his chances of winning the Republican nomination. Fewer than 1 in 5 Independents (17%) and Republicans (13%) say it hurt his chances of winning the nomination.
Rob Todaro (@robtodaro) is the Communications Director at Data for Progress.