Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
House GOP freshmen on Jan. 4, with Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) and Rep. Rodney Davis of House Administration Committee. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Republicans, long reliant on big business and the rich, see a post-Trump future centered on working class white, Hispanic and Black voters, top GOP officials tell Axios.
Why it matters: This is a substantial shift, born of necessity and the post-Trump reality. It would push Republicans further away from the interests of corporate America and traditional conservative ideas like entitlement reform.
Top Republican officials tell Axios that if the party is going to survive, it needs to copy Donald Trump’s fixation on blue-collar voters in 2016 and working-class and minority voters in 2020 — and ditch, or at least downplay, allegiance to big business.
- So instead of Republican leaders talking about reforming Medicare or Social Security, you'll hear them talking about protecting entitlements.
- Instead of corporate tax cuts, job "stability" will be a campaign theme for House Republicans as they try to win the majority in next year's midterms.
What's happening: Numerous corporations are cutting off money to a big chunk of Republicans who refused to certify the Joe Biden victory.
- At the same time, Trump showed Republicans how to invigorate not just working-class whites, but also some Hispanic and Black voters, especially men.
The big picture: Recent polling shows Republican voters no longer coalesce around tax cuts and entitlement reforms.
- Instead, there's a substantial divide — and many signs their future might rest in protecting traditional workers and traditional values.
- In a YouGov poll of 1,000 Trump 2020 voters for AEI, 42% described themselves as working class — about the same share as evangelical Christians.
Two champions of the new GOP are House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was chair of the Senate Small Business Committee before Democrats took power last month.
- McCarthy told Punchbowl News this week that "the American worker" will be one of his three focuses between now and the midterms, along with immigration and "fighting back against socialism."
- Rubio said in a speech in December that Republicans can capitalize on the current political realignment by being a "pro-worker party."
So you'll see more scenes like this week, when McCarthy is in Texas and will tour an oil rig — in addition to raising money.