Almost half of all Iowa Republicans who plan to vote in next year’s presidential caucus consider themselves “MAGA Republicans,” according to a new Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register. Forty-six percent of the self-identified likely Republican caucusgoers surveyed by Selzer & Co. said the term accurately describes them and their beliefs.
Given that “MAGA Republican” has no established definition beyond supporting Donald Trump and whatever positions he is taking at the moment, it’s odd the number of respondents who claim it as their identity is higher than the number who said Trump was their top choice for president in the upcoming caucus. In results from the same poll published by the Register last week, 42 percent of likely caucusgoers said they plan to vote for Trump in the Iowa Republican Caucus.
The new results probably say more about the mentality and morality of Iowa Republicans than they do about the twice-impeached and four-time-indicted former president, who was found civilly liable of sexual assault in May. Despite all that—and other unethical, if not criminal, conduct in Trump’s public career since the 1970s — only 23 percent of Republican respondents in the new poll told Selzer & Co. they are “anti-Trump.”
If any of Trump’s dozen challengers in the Iowa Caucus hope that 91 felony charges Trump is currently facing (44 federal felonies in two cases, 34 New York state felonies and 14 Georgia state felonies), the new Iowa Poll doesn’t give them any grounds for believing that. Sixty-five percent of respondents said they believed Trump “has not committed any serious crimes.” The poll of 406 likely Republican caucus attendees was conducted from Aug. 13-17, and Trump’s latest criminal indictment — the one in Georgia for crimes committed while he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state — was announced on the evening of Aug. 14. Support for Trump among respondents was stronger post-indictment.
The other Republicans shouldn’t count on help from the trial calendar, either. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan set March 4 as the start date for Trump’s trial in Washington D.C. for four felonies related to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. It’s the earliest criminal trial date set so far for the former president. That date is seven weeks after the Jan. 15 Iowa Caucus, but only one day before 15 states, and American Samoa, vote on Super Tuesday.
Trump’s criminal trial in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records is scheduled to begin on March 25. On Monday, Judge Chutkan said she had spoken to Justice Juan Merchan, who is in charge of the New York case, prior to selecting the March 4 start date, but did not indicate what was discussed.
In a radio interview last month, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he anticipated the date for Trump’s New York trial might change.
This story originally appeared in LV Daily, Little Village’s Monday-Friday email newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered for free to your inbox.