Former President Donald Trump’s support within the Republican Party has increased by 7 points since the FBI raided his private home at Mar-a-Lago, an NBC poll found this week.
The poll asked, “Do you consider yourself to be more of a supporter of Donald Trump or more of a supporter of the Republican Party?”
Forty-one percent of voters identified with Trump more than Republican Party, up from 34 percent in May.
Conversely, 58 percent of Republicans in May identified more with the Republican Party.
The poll is notable because since Trump left office, fewer Republicans have identified with Trump. In January of 2021, voters identified with Trump and the party equally (46 percent). In January of 2022, 36 percent identified with Trump and 56 percent identified with the party.
The recent polling seems to have been impacted by the FBI’s raid Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Despite the White House’s statement that the president had “no advanced knowledge” of the raid, Just The News reported Biden’s White House was involved in the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into Trump. The report noted the White House did not have knowledge of the search warrant or the raid.
Just The News reported:
The memos show then-White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su was engaged in conversations with the FBI, DOJ and National Archives as early as April, shortly after 15 boxes of classified and other materials were voluntarily returned to the federal historical agency from Trump’s Florida home.
By May, Su conveyed to the Archives that President Joe Biden would not object to waiving his predecessor’s claims to executive privilege, a decision that opened the door for DOJ to get a grand jury to issue a subpoena compelling Trump to turn over any remaining materials he possessed from his presidency.
On Monday, Trump said he filed a motion asking for an independent review of the items taken from Mar-a-Lago. “Law enforcement is a shield that protects Americans. It cannot be used as a weapon for political purposes,” Trump’s motion said. “Therefore, we seek judicial assistance in the aftermath of an unprecedented and unnecessary raid on President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.”
Among the items taken in the raid were Trump’s passports, a fact which the establishment media denied before Trump dropped an email from the top counterintelligence official in the Justice Department’s national security division that confirmed Trump’s passports were, in fact, seized.
Breitbart News reported the passports were not independently itemized on the FBI’s property receipt of the 28 inventory items federal agents seized. The warrant did not state that they could take Trump’s passport. Typically, the government needs a separate court order to seize someone’s passport, even temporarily.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.