Following the release of a 2005 video that revealed Donald Trump making vulgar, predatory comments about women, many Republican lawmakers began withdrawing their support for the party’s presidential nominee.
By our count, 30 Republican officials have said Trump should leave the race, and 14 have said they won’t vote for him. But according to polls by ABC News/SSRS and Politico/Morning Consult, voters have not been as quick to jump from the Trump ship.
Both polls were conducted immediately after the video was released on Friday evening (Oct. 7), and both indicate that the video has done little to deter Trump’s base.
The ABC poll, which surveyed 242 voting-age Americans, found that 57% of all voters think Trump should stay in the race. The Politico poll found that the voters who think Trump should remain outnumber the voters who think he should drop out by six points (45% to 39%). And among Republican respondents, 88% believe he should stay.
In the ABC poll, 62% of all female voters said they’re less likely to vote for Trump after seeing the video, while only 45% of men said the same.
After the video’s release, YouGov/CBS contacted voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania who had previously said they’d vote for Trump, to see if the candidate’s latest comments had changed any minds in the swing states. Only 8% of voters who were aware of the video said they think worse of Trump, and 2% said they now think better of him.
The video is sure to be a major topic of discussion during tonight’s town hall-style debate (here’s how to watch). Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has been mum on the topic so far, though her running mate, Tim Kaine, went on the attack Sunday.
Trump has been characteristically defiant, and neither of his apologies have been all that convincing.