14 Percent of Biden Voters Say Trump Will Be Reinstated as President This Year: Poll
A surprising number of Americans who voted for President Joe Biden say they agree with a conspiracy theory claiming former President Donald Trump will be "reinstated" as president this year, according to a new poll.
The poll released Wednesday by Morning Consult/Politico found that 14 percent of Biden voters surveyed said it was "very" or "somewhat" likely that Trump would make an inexplicable return to the White House as soon as this year. Twenty-six percent of Trump voters agreed that the former president would likely return to office before Biden's term is over.
Support for the conspiracy theory was significant even among voters who said they were very or somewhat "favorable of Biden," with 26 percent agreeing. Among voters who said they had a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of Biden, 41 percent maintained that it was at least somewhat likely that Trump would be reinstated.
The poll was conducted online among 1,996 registered U.S. voters between August 7 and August 9. It has a margin of error of 2 percent.
In another Morning Consult/Politico poll conducted in early June, 47 percent of respondents said that they had heard "a lot" or "some" about "Trump telling his allies that he believes he will be reinstated as president of the United States by August."
Perhaps surprisingly, although 63 percent of Biden voters said they had heard of Trump's alleged belief in the theory, a nearly identical 64 percent of Trump voters said they had heard "not much" or "nothing at all" about it.
The belief that Trump will be reinstated appears to have declined slightly among Trump voters over the months, with 28 percent having believed the conspiracy in June. However, there was an increase among Biden voters, up three points from 11 percent in June.
The claim that Trump himself was privately insisting he would be back in the White House by this month was first reported by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman on June 1. The former president's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, soon dismissed the claim.
The reinstatement theory has remained especially popular among some pro-Trump conspiracy theorists, like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and "Kraken" lawyer Sidney Powell. Others, like Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have admitted that a quick return is not likely.
Although this week's poll indicates that a significant number of Americans may believe otherwise, it would be impossible for Trump to be reinstated during Biden's term. The results of the 2020 election have long been finalized and certified and there is no legal or constitutional mechanism that would reverse the election's outcome at this point.
The earliest realistic point that Trump could return as president would be on January 20, 2025—the date that the winner of the 2024 presidential election will be inaugurated. That would happen only if Trump were to announce a 2024 run, become the GOP nominee and win in the general election.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
