Almost one-third of Republicans say they believe former President Donald Trump will be reinstated as president sometime this year.
A new Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday asked respondents, “How likely do you think it is that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated as U.S. president this year, if at all?”
The poll found that among respondents who identify as Republican, 19% said it is “very likely,” while 10% said it is “somewhat likely.” Meanwhile, 23% say it is “not very likely,” and 38% said they believe it is “not likely at all.”
The poll found that 32% of Republican women say it is “very” or “somewhat” likely that Trump will be reinstated, while 25% of Republican men say the same.
By contrast, 7% of Democratic respondents believe it is “very likely” that Trump will be reinstated, and 7% say it is “somewhat likely.” Additionally, 9% say it is “not very likely,” and 71% say it is “not likely at all.”
And 12% of independents say it is “very” or “somewhat” likely he will return to the White House, while 75% said it is “not very” or “not at all” likely he would.
The new poll comes months after Trump supporters circulated claims on social media that the former president would be returned to the White House by Aug. 13.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted in June also found that 29% of Republicans said it was “very” or “somewhat” likely Trump would be reinstated.
As Reuters notes, “This claim stems from a conspiracy theory and is not based in fact.”
The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported in June that Trump believes he will be reinstated as president.
Trump has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August (no that isn’t how it works but simply sharing the information). https://t.co/kaXSXKnpF0
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 1, 2021
As CNN legal analyst Steve Vladeck noted, “There is no mechanism for ‘reinstating’ a former President. There is no procedure for setting a ‘new Inauguration Day.’“
Eugene Volokh, a professor at UCLA School of Law, also told CNN that the only way a sitting president can be removed before the end of their term is through impeachment and conviction, resignation, or invoking the 25th Amendment that applies in cases of presidential disability.