According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released today, the majority of Americans believe the way President Donald Trump is responding to civil unrest is making things worse.
55 percent of Americans say they believe Trump is worsening matters as the nation grapples with a slew of protests against racism and police brutality. 29 percent said they don’t believe Trump’s comments have had an effect on protests.
30 percent of Republicans believe the president’s rhetoric is improving things, though 26 percent say otherwise. Among white, non-college educated Americans, a key voting bloc for the president, just 18 percent believe his rhetoric has been successful and 41 percent say his comments have negatively impacted the national conversation on racial inequity.Â
The majority of Democrats (79 percent) believe Trump is making things worse; 53 percent of independents said the same. Just four percent of Democrats and nine percent of independents said Trump has had a positive impact on the national dialogue.
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The poll comes the same week as an Axios-Ipsos survey that found 60 percent of Americans believe the federal response is worsening the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.Â
Just 19 percent of Democrats believe the federal response is improving life under the pandemic compared to 80 percent who believe the federal response is making things worse.
Among Republicans, the findings are similarly stark. 74 percent of the survey’s respondents believe the federal response is improving life under the pandemic compared to 25 percent who said otherwise.
And finally, among independent voters, a little over a third (32 percent) had good things to say about the federal response compared to 68 percent who did not.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
