As reported by The Hill, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds that 30% of Republican voters say it’s likely that former President Donald Trump will be “reinstated” as president later this year. You might recall that we’ve talked about this very concept at Pyramid specifically because it’s literally impossible without a coup d’etat, although admittedly it’s not like Republicans are necessarily opposed to that.
If something feels familiar about this 30% figure, though, it might be because just a few months ago YouGov reported that 30% of Republicans have a favorable view of QAnon, the insane and incoherent conspiracy theory that claims, in case you’ve missed it, that there’s a kind of shadow war between two powers around the world, a cabal of villainous pedophiles versus allies of Donald Trump, a man who puts ketchup on well done steaks.
Taken together, these can pretty easily be read as probably the same group of Republicans. The same 30% that think QAnon seems logical are also the same 30% who think Trump will be reinstated, particularly because Trump’s supposed reinstatement has all the hallmarks of a QAnon theory, including a definitive date that will eventually pass without anything happening and supporters insisting that there’s actually a newer, better date.
Six years ago, Public Policy Polling ran a poll about foreign policy issues, hoping to gauge how Republicans felt about prospective candidates in the 2016 election, particularly Donald Trump. Let me know if this surprises you, but 30% of Republicans supporting bombing Agrabah, the fictional kingdom from Aladdin. 45% of those who supported the bombing of Agrabah were self-identified Trump supporters, more than any other candidate (there were, you might recall, a ton of candidates running for the Republican nomination in 2016).
