Only half of the voters who cast their ballots for Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary believe the GOP will unite behind him in the general election, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.
In less than two weeks, Republicans will convene in Cleveland for their national convention and many still doubt the GOP will emerge from the four-day confab as more unified than their Democratic opponents.
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Fewer than 30 percent of GOP voters who supported someone other than Trump in the primary believe the party will unite around him, while 40 percent of Trump supporters do not anticipate further party unification between now and November.
In comparison, 65 percent of all Republicans believed their party would come together to support Mitt Romney in a survey taken before the 2012 convention and 63 percent thought the same of John McCain in 2008.
Trump’s tendency to veer wildly off message and his push for policies on trade and immigration that differ from the mainstream Republican approach has fueled concerns among many GOP leaders, who continue to oppose him as their party’s presumptive nominee.
Nonetheless, 62 percent of Republicans surveyed felt that the average GOP voter “generally agrees” with Trump on most issues. Thirty percent felt the average Republican is in disagreement with Trump on issues like trade, immigration, the economy and terrorism.
Democrats were far more likely to say their average party member agrees with Hillary Clinton on most issues. Eighty-one percent said the former secretary of state has taken positions on issues that most left-leaning voters agree with, including 74 percent of voters who supported Bernie Sanders in the primary.
Seventy-two percent of Democrats also said they expect their party to unite behind Clinton between now and the November election, while slightly less than a quarter remained skeptical of party unity occurring.
The PRC poll was conducted June 15-26. Results are based on a survey of 1,655 registered U.S. voters.
