He lost a major media ally
Congressional investigations hurt Trump's popularity among Republicans
Demonstrators in Washington are calling for Trump to be held accountable.
AFP
Donald Trump.
EPA
picture
Former US President Donald Trump was given a standing ovation after he repeated his allegations of election fraud at a rally of young conservatives in Florida over the weekend.
The enthusiastic response to the Tampa student rally was "different from the lackluster reception" of its claims about the 2020 presidential race at other recent rallies, the Daily Mail said.
However, recent polls have indicated that Trump's popularity has been significantly affected by congressional hearings on the January 6 Capitol riots.
The former president was booed at a rally in Arizona on Friday, and he, too, lost the support of a key media ally.
harmful details
John Cassidy of the New Yorker said the latest polls indicate that the "continuous disclosure of harmful details" in the hearings "certainly had some influence" on Republicans' views of Trump.
A Reuters poll with Ipsos showed that 40% of Republicans now believe that Trump is at least partially to blame for the Capitol violence, up from 33% before the hearings began, Cassidy wrote.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Republicans who said they believed Trump should not run again, rose from a quarter to a third.
Reuters said that the results of the poll show that Republican enthusiasm for Trump "has diminished somewhat over the six weeks of televised hearings in Congress."
An opinion poll conducted by the New York Times and Sina College earlier this month also found the results disappointing for Trump.
About half of the Republicans who took part in the poll said they would vote for someone else in the primaries.
Among respondents under the age of 35, the proportion rose to nearly two-thirds.
However, the average RealClearPolitics poll, which combines results from surveys, found that Trump's overall approval rating has fallen by just about two percentage points, since the televised hearings began.
"An overwhelming majority of Republicans believe in Trump's lie," wrote Jonathan Sheet of New York magazine, that the 2020 election was stolen.
"If you think so, it makes perfect sense to choose a candidate who will do everything to prevent a repeat of what happened," he continued.
With hearings stalled over the summer, a growing number of Republicans are being encouraged to join the race to become the next presidential candidate.
CNN said some party members were "increasingly concerned" about the idea of Trump being their nominee again.
Conservative Republican Study Committee member Dan Crenshaw said there were "a lot of good options" and he hoped "they will all be brought up".
Senate Republican Senator John Thune has agreed that there may be "other attractive" candidates for 2024 besides Trump.
And one of them actually jumped to the front of the group.
Ron DeSantis is considered to be Trump's strongest potential rival, as recent polls in New Hampshire and Michigan show him very close to the former president and "easily ahead" in Florida, according to the New York Times.
loss of support
It also appears that the former president has lost an important media supporter.
The Guardian reported that US media circles were "shaken" over the weekend, after a US tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch issued a "severe editorial indictment" for Trump's failure to stop the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
The New York Post editorial stated that "in principle, and in terms of character, Trump has proven that he does not deserve to be president of this country again."
The Wall Street Journal, affiliated with Murdoch, said the evidence before the investigation served as a reminder that "Trump betrayed his supporters."
The media mogul's turn came days after Vice Chairman of the Capitol Inquiry Committee Liz Cheney called Trump's actions that day "indefensible."
Cheney said he "made a deliberate decision to breach the oath of office" and "threaten our constitutional order."
Her words were "a clear signal to American voters that Trump's actions during the Congressional blockade should disqualify him from running for president again in 2024," according to the Financial Times.
And while Trump enjoyed an impressive reception and cheers from his young supporters in Florida on Saturday, Republicans in Arizona weren't too enthusiastic about him.
In Arizona, the cheers turned to jeers when the former president said at a rally in Prescott Valley that he supported Eli Crane, who is running in the congressional primary.
Crane is accused of having never lived in the area he seeks to represent.
The Independent reported that Trump "looked somewhat surprised by the reaction and smiled strangely", continuing, "But you love me, don't you?"
asked the crowd.
The answer to this question can determine whether or not he will have the opportunity to be re-elected to the office of President.
An opinion poll conducted by the New York Times and Sina College showed that about half of participating Republicans would vote for someone other than Trump in the primaries.
40%
of Republicans now believe that Trump is at least partially to blame for the Capitol violence, down from 33% before congressional hearings began.
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