JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Most likely Republican Primary voters in Florida believe former President Donald Trump was “just exercising his right to contest the election” following his loss in 2020.
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That’s according to a new poll released by the University of North Florida on Tuesday.
When asked which response comes closer to their view about former President Donald Trump’s actions after the 2020 election, 71 percent of likely Florida Republican Primary voters said he was “just exercising his right to contest the election” versus just 16 percent who said he “went so far that he threatened American Democracy”.
“These are likely Republican voters in a Primary. So, they tend to be much further off to the right, and they tend to be much more supportive of Donald Trump,” said UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder.
Binder, who helped conduct the poll, said the results provide an insight into why Trump’s support among GOP voters is so strong, despite the former President facing charges in two criminal cases related to his post-election conduct and alleged role in the January 6th Insurrection.
“It’s not surprising that Trump’s support is so high amongst these folks if they don’t think he did anything wrong after the election,” said Binder.
Evan Power, Chair of Chairs of the Florida GOP, argued Republican voters may have responded differently had the possible responses been phrased differently.
“It kind of leads to not having the most specific answer possible,” said Power.
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He said there’s a strong feeling among Republican voters that Trump is being held to a different standard when it comes to contesting the results of his election.
“They’re seeing that it only is bad when Republicans challenge an election, but it’s not bad when a Democrat challenges an election,” said Power.
Regardless, with 16 percent of Florida Republican voters going as far to agree Trump’s actions threatened Democracy, Binder suggested it could be bad news for Trump in the General Election, considering he won the state by less than four points in 2020.
“These are the types of questions that in a really close state like some of these battlegrounds, particularly in the Mid-West, that could potentially flip a state and potentially flip the Presidency,” said Binder.
Power disagreed with that assessment and pointed to the more than 620,000 voter registration advantage the GOP currently holds over Democrats in Florida.
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