Even Republicans are getting tired of nonstop political crusades against ‘woke’ companies

Until now, it’s seemed obvious why a savvy 2024 GOP presidential contender should probably have a well-developed plan to defeat the woke mind virus that many on the right believe is afflicting America. Former president Trump routinely bashes wokeism, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida claims his state is “where woke goes to die,” and other candidates have launched full-on companies whose purpose is to kneecap woke capitalism.

Brands like Bud Light have, meanwhile, lost market share after promoting diversity and inclusion, and politicians who introduce bills to punish companies for prioritizing environmental sustainability over investors’ returns have drawn whoops and hollers from conservatives.

But buried in a New York Times/Siena poll released on Monday is an item suggesting that Republican voters may be growing wary of that endless, 24/7 crusade. The poll is drawing eyeballs for a separate reason: the likely shellacking it shows Donald Trump administering to his GOP opponents, despite now facing dozens of felony charges with more seemingly on the way. Voters split 54% for Trump, 17% for DeSantis, then 3% apiece for former vice president Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, and former governor Nikki Haley, both of South Carolina.

However, respondents were also presented with a hypothetical primary matchup between two candidates: One who promises to fight corporations that “promote ‘woke’ left ideology,” versus one who believes the government’s job is to let corporations support the causes they want. Fifty-two percent picked the laissez-faire candidate while 38% chose the would-be anti-woke warrior.

The poll then posed a second matchup: What if the options were a candidate who focused on “defeating radical ‘woke’ ideology in our schools, media, and culture,” and someone who stressed “restoring law and order in our streets and at the border.” Two-thirds favored the law-and-order candidate, and 24% picked the person who, odds are, would spend time banning library books and trying to cancel Disney.

The Times/Siena poll suggests being too anti-woke might not only backfire in the general election but could even penalize a candidate in the GOP primary. It also registers dampening support for the anti-woke cause: As recently as April, a Wall Street Journal poll had reported that when asked which was more important, keeping illegal immigrants out of the country or battling woke businesses and schools, 44% of Republican voters chose border security, 24% said fighting wokeism, and 25% said both were equally important. Another poll, released by Navigator Research in March, found that a majority of respondents who identified as Republican hadn’t soured yet on the culture war, and thought politicians should not spend less time attacking wokeness.

Some of the Times/Siena poll’s results might still dismay Americans not planning to vote in the Republican primary. (For instance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a 52% favorability rating and is nearly tied with DeSantis on unfavorability.) But they may also be causing sweats for the Florida governor’s team. His support is cooling among big-name Republican donors who feel his anti-wokeism has gotten too extreme, and he just had a surprisingly hostile interview with conservative journalist Megyn Kelly about whether his war on woke—whose latest chapter includes ordering a government probe into Bud Light—is starting to look more like a war on free speech.