The audio recording of Trump may have generated controversies, but it has apparently failed to produce the intended great damage to Trump's candidacy by those behind its release. A survey conducted a day after the recording was shown to the public reveals majority of Republican voters continue to support Trump and believe their party should go on backing him.
The survey was conducted by POLITICO/Morning Consult which shows 74% of Republican respondents believe party officials should continue to support their presidential candidate Donald Trump.
The said poll was the first scientific survey conducted right after the release of the controversial 11-year old recording of Trump where he made some crude remarks against women. Trump immediately released his own video apologizing for his "foolish" remarks more than a decade ago while maintaining those words do not reflect his real character. Trump also vowed to his supporters that he will be a " better man". Trump also said that he is not withdrawing from the presidential race.
The poll's methodology was to allow respondents to view both the controversial recording, and Trump's subsequent apology video.
Morning Consult surveyed 1, 549 registered voters, 1, 390 of whom are likely voters, with thee poll having a margin of error of 2% for all voters, and 3% for likely voters.
" As soon as the news broke, we designed a survey that not only tested voter opinion on Trump's comments, but also allowed more than 1,500 voters to react in real time to the video and his apology. The results show that nearly all voters have heard about the video and most rate it negatively, but Trump's supporters are not abandoning him right away", said Morning Consult co-founder and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp.
The recording enjoyed prominent exposure in mainstream media like CNN widely-perceived to be anti-Trump, contributing perhaps to respondents' familiarity with its existence even prior to taking the survey.
Based on the poll results, however, the controversy is not likely to affect voter preferences for presidential candidates.
