(CN) — A new survey from the Pew Research Center reveals Republicans' growing desire to see former President Donald Trump remain a prominent figure in American politics and run again in 2024.
Republican voters are also less accepting of elected officials who criticize Trump, according to polling conducted in September among 10,371 U.S. adults.
The poll released Wednesday shows 67% of Republican respondents believe Trump should remain a major national political figure, and 44% said they want to see him run for the presidency again. Just 22% of Republicans said they would prefer a different presidential candidate who shares the former president’s views.
Thirty-two percent of Republicans took the position that Trump should no longer play a role in national politics.
Pew conducted similar polling in the waning days of the Trump presidency earlier this year, just after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. At that time, 57% of Republicans said Trump should remain a major political figure.
Since January, Democrats’ views remain largely unchanged, with only 7% agreeing Trump should continue to be a national political figure.
Part of the 10-point increase in Republicans who want the one-term president to remain an influential force in politics comes from older conservatives and those without a college degree. Of Republicans who are 65 or older, 72% support Trump and 45% want him to run again in 2024. That number jumps to 50% among GOP voters without a college degree.
Trump got his highest marks from Republicans who identify as conservative. Seventy-five percent of them want to see Trump remain a majority political figure, with 49% believing he should run again. Meanwhile, support for Trump was its lowest among Republicans between the ages of 18 and 49 that graduated from college and consider themselves moderate or liberal.
After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Republican officials breaking with the then-president to certify the 2020 election results, Trump and his allies in Congress have openly criticized fellow conservatives for going against him. Earlier this year, Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives ousted Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her position as chair of the GOP conference after she criticized Trump over his false claims of election fraud and his role in inciting the Capitol insurrection.
Going against Trump has shown to be a risky endeavor among GOP members of Congress, and the latest Pew survey supports that perception.
Thirty percent of Republicans said the party should “not at all” accept elected officials who criticize Trump. A slightly larger group (32%) said the GOP should “not be too accepting” of officials who criticize the former president. The share of Republicans who say the party should be accepting of Trump critics fell from 43% to 36% since March.
Democrats, by contrast, responded with nearly opposite views. Forty percent said their party should be somewhat accepting of elected officials who criticize President Joe Biden, with 17% saying Democrats should be very accepting of criticism. While a majority of Democrats support elected officials who criticize the Biden administration, that number has dropped from 68% in March to 57% in the latest poll.
Just under half of Republicans and Democrats expressed openness for their party to accept bipartisanship and reject harsh language against the other side. Forty-three percent of Republicans and 49% of Democrats said that their parties should be “somewhat accepting” of elected officials who agree with the opposing party on important issues.
When it comes to politicians who call the other party “evil," 35% of Republicans said their party should be “not too accepting” of such language, with 17% saying the party should not at all accept those characterizations. Similarly, 38% of Democrats said their party should not be too accepting of those who call Republicans evil, and 19% responded said they should not be accepted at all.
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