Louisiana Republican support of Trump may have backfired. A statewide survey conducted earlier this month by Dr. Eward Chervenack of Edgewater Research LLC and Dr. Tony Licciardi of My People Vote shows that a majority of Louisiana Republicans would switch to Trump’s Patriot Party if he launched it.
According to the survey, although only 43 percent of Louisianans overall would switch, nearly two-thirds, or around 63 percent, of Louisiana Republicans would favor switching to the Patriot Party. Given how staunchly the Louisiana GOP supported Trump throughout his presidency and beyond – even censuring Senator Bill Cassidy for his guilty vote following Trump’s second impeachment trial – that may come as an unpleasant surprise.
The party’s welcome and support of increasingly radical Trumpists may end up destroying the GOP’s hold on the state. At the “Million MAGA March” in December, nationalist podcaster Nicholas J. Juentes shouted into his microphone “We’re done making promises. It has to happen now. We’re going to destroy the GOP!”
While it’s unlikely that the Patriot Party would win any substantial elections on their own, they may succeed where other third-party movements have failed – in disrupting the two-party system. By destroying Republican support in deeply red states like Louisiana, this could pave the way for Democrats to win major elections for the next generation.
Although Republicans have been quick to support Trump in the media, their history of working with him on his policies has been a different story. In spite of having full control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, the only significant reform Republicans accomplished during Trump’s four years in office was a tax cut that mostly benefitted businesses and the wealthy.
A more politically-savvy person might attempt to take over the GOP and remake it from the inside. But Trump has always been self-focused, craving the adulation of his followers and the attention of everyone else. Rather than continue an increasingly shaky alliance with the GOP, Trump has lashed out at former political allies, most notably former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump recently called the Republican senator a “dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack.” McConnell has served in the Senate since 1985.
“The Republicans are soft. They only hit their own, like Mitch” Trump told conservative outlet Newsmax. “If they spent the same time hitting Schumer and Biden, the Republicans would be much better off, that I can tell you.”
“I don’t think [Trump] cares about winning,” Stephen Law, leader of the Senate Leadership Fund, one of the most powerful Republican-aligned super PACs in Washington. “He just wants it to be about himself.”
