WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Potentially raising concerns among Republican lawmakers facing primary challenges from the right, the results of a Politico/Morning Consult show President Donald Trump is seen as more in touch with GOP voters.
Fifty-seven percent of self-identified Republican voters said Trump is more in touch with them, while just 27 percent said Republicans in Congress are more in touch.
The poll also found that 58 percent of GOP voters consider Trump to be more aligned with their own principles compared to 25 percent that said the same about Republican lawmakers.
The release of the results comes on the heels of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon declaring war on the GOP establishment.
Bannon has indicated that he plans to back primary challengers to almost every Republican Senator running for re-election next year.
'We are declaring war on the Republican establishment that does not back the agenda that Donald Trump ran on,' Bannon said in an interview on Fox News last week. 'We're going after these guys tooth and nail.'
The Politico/Morning Consult poll found majorities of Republican voters believe congressional Republicans support Trump and his legislative agenda, although a significant share of voters disagreed.
Thirty-five percent of GOP voters said Republicans in Congress do not support the president and 32 percent said GOP lawmakers do not support his agenda.
In remarks at the White House on Monday, Trump said he can understand where Bannon is coming from, arguing that Republican senators have not been getting the job done.
'I'm not going to blame myself, I'll be honest. They are not getting the job done,' Trump said. 'I can understand where a lot of people are coming from because I'm not happy about it and a lot of people aren't happy about it.'
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., warned of the potential dangers of nominating insurgent candidates, pointing to the failed campaigns of Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle, Todd Akin, and Richard Mourdock.
'My goal as the leader of the Republican Party in the Senate is to keep us in the majority,' McConnell said in a press conference with Trump. 'The way you do that is not complicated. You have to have nominate people who can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home.'
'Our operating approach will be to support our incumbents and, in open seats, to seek to help nominate people who can actually win in November,' he added. 'That's my approach and that's the way you keep a governing majority.'
The Politico/Morning Consult survey of 636 registered Republican voters was conducted October 12th through 16th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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