The vast majority of white Republican university graduates believe that the Republican Party should not punish elected officials who publicly opposed former President Donald Trump after the Capitol rebellion.
According to a new CNN poll released on Friday, an impressive 94% of respondents in that group said they did not believe lawmakers should face a political reaction for speaking out against Trump. Among those who do not have higher education, that number drops to 74%.
Overall, 76% of all Republicans surveyed said they feel the same way, while 20% said they believe elected officials who oppose the former president should be punished.
In addition, the survey found that 67 percent of Republicans said they believe Trump had a positive effect on the party, while 63 percent believe the Republican Party is currently united.
The survey was conducted for CNN by the SSRS from March 3-8 and included results from 1,009 respondents. The sampling error margin is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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A total of 10 House Republicans joined all Democrats in the vote to impeach the former president for “inciting an insurrection” on January 13. A month later, seven Republican Party senators voted to unsuccessfully condemn Trump on February 13. Since then, several of these lawmakers have experienced an intense reaction to breaking away from Trump. The ex-president’s supporters claimed that those who voted to challenge or condemn him are not representatives of the Republican Party.
In the House, Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wy.), Republican number three, faced calls to be removed from her leadership position as president of the conference. Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) Was censored by his local GOP, while some members of his own family wrote a letter calling him a disgrace.
In addition, five of the seven senators who voted to convict – Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) )) – each was censored by local or state Republican Party officials.
However, other Republicans have since criticized the party for participating in the “cancellation of culture” and for being intolerant of diverse views.
Senator John Thune, who voted for Trump’s acquittal, defended his colleagues who sided with the Democrats and warned the party against silencing dissenting voices.
“A strong case has been made. People can come to different conclusions. If we are going to criticize the media and the left for the culture of cancellation, we cannot do that ourselves,” said Thune, the second Senate Republican. The Associated Press.
Trump was finally acquitted after 43 senators voted to clear him of the charges, leaving him on a path to possibly seek the job again. Last month, the staunch Republican leader suggested a presidential run in 2024 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“In fact, you know they just lost the White House,” said Trump, amid false claims that President Joe Biden won the election for electoral fraud. “I may even decide to beat them a third time,” he added.
Newsweek contacted Trump for further comment, but received no response in time for publication.