Politics

Poll Reveals GOP Still Hasn’t United Since Primaries

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
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Republican voters who voted for President Donald Trump in the primaries and those who didn’t remain split on many issues, including on whether immigration benefits the nation, according to a poll released Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 98 percent of Trump primary voters approve of the president’s performance, while just 66 percent of non-Trump primary voters still back him.

President Trump ran a combative campaign against several establishment candidates and continues to knock key Republicans. Just as recently as Wednesday, Trump sided with Congressional Democratic leadership over GOP leadership in a debt ceiling extension debate. (RELATED: How Trump Caved To Dems Over Debt Ceiling, Govt. Funding)

Trump has also been attacked by several Republican lawmakers for rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the WSJ/NBC poll revealed key divisions within the party on immigration. (RELATED: Steve King: Trump Made ‘Solomon-esque’ Decision With DACA As Congress Struggles With Next Step)

Fifty-nine percent of Trump primary voters said that immigration weakens America, while the exact same amount, 59 percent, of non-Trump supporting primary voters said immigration strengthens the U.S. The poll found that 50 percent of Trump primary voters looked at immigration as a key issue, while only 24 percent of other Republican primary voters said likewise.

Republicans who supported Trump in the primary were also more likely to say that societal changes in the U.S. that made the country more diverse and accepting of different lifestyles were a negative. Sixty-three percent of Trump primary supporters said they didn’t like the changes, while 35 percent of other Republicans said likewise.

President Trump also won the support of Republicans who were most against gay marriage. Fifty-six percent of Trump primary voters said they were against gay marriage, while 45 percent of non-Trump GOP primary voters felt the same.

The poll, however, found that Trump primary voters now feel at home in the GOP. Seventy-five percent of them said they like the party, while 58 percent of non-Trump primary voters said the same.

The poll was of 1,200 people and was conducted between August 5 and August 9. It has a margin of error of 2.82 percent for the full sample.