Signs of 'Trump fatigue' are growing among GOP voters: conservative

19 July 2022

If Never Trump conservatives had their way, the Republican Party would abandon the MAGA movement and return to a traditional pre-MAGA brand of Goldwater or Reagan conservatism. There are no signs that the GOP is abandoning Trumpism as an ideology, but in a column published by The Bulwark on July 19, Never Trumper Charlie Sykes discusses growing signs of “Trump fatigue” among Republican voters.

When Sykes speaks of “Trump fatigue,” he isn’t saying “MAGA fatigue.” In fact, he notes that the popularity of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a MAGA Republican and Donald Trump protégé — continues to grow with the Republican base. Sykes isn’t expecting the GOP to pick Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois or Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan as its presidential nominee in 2024, but he does, in his column, discuss signs that more Republican voters are growing weary of Trump himself.

Sykes discusses a July 17 Twitter thread from conservative strategist Sarah Longwell, a Never Trumper who endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020’s presidential election. Longwell tweeted, “Just had another focus group of Trump voters where ZERO wanted Trump to run again in 2024. Really a striking departure from dozens and dozens of focus groups pre-Jan 6 hearings when at least half of any Trump-voting group wanted him to run again. His support is noticeably softer.”

Longwell elaborated, “Again, I don’t think it’s that these voters are being persuaded by the hearings exactly. They (think) they’re a witch hunt, etc. But it’s a reminder to them of how much baggage Trump has. They want someone who can win in 2024 and are increasingly unsure he can.”

Sykes, in his column, goes on to point out that some polls show DeSantis outperforming Trump among Republican voters in a hypothetical 2024 GOP presidential primary. And he notes that in Arizona’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial primary, term-limited Republican Gov. Doug Ducey hasn’t been shy about endorsing Karrin Taylor Robson over former news anchor Kari Lake — the far-right candidate Trump is aggressively supporting.

Moreover, former Vice President Mike Pence has also endorsed Robson, not Lake. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake, on July 18, wrote that Pence’s endorsement of Robson “instantly turns the race into the preeminent battle between Trump’s vision for the GOP and the nascent, establishment-oriented effort to turn the page on 2020 — and potentially on Trump.”

Sykes says of Arizona’s gubernatorial race, “Trump’s candidate is now opposed by: His own former vice president, the head of the Republican Governors Association, Ducey — though Ducey’s endorsement was made in his capacity as governor — former New Jersey Gov. and Trump adviser Chris Christie, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; State Senate President Karen Fann, and Former Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon, who dropped out of the race and backed Taylor Robson.”

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