Americans Are Rejecting Donald Trump’s Reckless Policies, Poll Finds
Trump’s key policies are unpopular with most Americans. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
If you’ve felt adrift in a sea of craziness since early November — afraid to discover your neighbor supports the deplorable policies of the Donald Trump White House — you might be able to rest a little easier now. A new Quinnipiac Poll has found most Americans disagree with Trump on most of the issues.
For starters, when asked if they support removing regulations on businesses, 49 percent to 39 percent said no, while 12 percent were unsure. Asked specifically about removing regulations put in place to combat global warming, a resounding 61 percent said no. Additionally, 72 percent indicated they have at least some concern about climate change with 44 percent saying they are “very concerned.”
On the Affordable Care Act, 50 percent of those asked said it should stay while four percent were unsure. However, that number would likely go up once Americans actually take the time to figure out that the ACA and Obamacare are the same thing. A separate poll found more than one-third of Americans were unaware they were not two separate policies.
Trump has called NATO obsolete, but even his own party breaks from him on this one. Of those asked, 79 percent said the United States should defend its NATO allies. When broken down into only Republicans, the number is still a resounding 71 percent.
More Americans believe, by a 50–37 percent split, there should be more regulations on financial institutions. Trump is set to roll-back many of the regulations put forth in Dodd-Frank, which would allow the big banks to essentially do the same things they did leading up to the 2008 crash.
Trump also loses the American electorate when it comes to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines as 50 percent oppose their completion. Trump just recently signed executive orders to resume building of the pipelines that President Barack Obama had halted.
Most Americans support Trump’s promises on trade and infrastructure spending
Trump’s positions did get support in a few areas. Most Americans would like to see trade agreements like NAFTA renegotiated — even if it means paying a little more for certain products — by a 60–31 percent split.
Trump also won over independents with his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court with 50 percent approving the pick.
There was also incredible support for infrastructure spending. An overwhelming 89 percent of those polls would like to see more spending in that area, but they might not be so enthusiastic if Trump and the Republicans were honest in their intentions to use mostly contractors and create more private toll roads and bridges.
Americans overwhelmingly reject Trump’s most infamous moves and promises — including the Wall
But we’re not done with the Trump disapproval just yet.
Trump’s baseless claim of 3–5 million illegal voters is believed by only 28 percent of those polled. That number is still far too high for something so obviously unfounded, but it’s better than the 50 percent of Republicans who buy it.
On abortion, 62 percent believe it should be legal in most or all cases. Just polling Republicans, the number falls to 33 percent.
Trump’s right-hand man in the White House is well-known White Supremacist Steve Bannon, but most Americans don’t seem to see eye to eye with Bannon. 75 percent of those polled responded that racial prejudice is a still a serious issue. Even among Republicans the number is 54 percent.
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Lastly, we get to Trump’s main campaign promise — the wall.
Of those polled, 59 percent oppose building a wall compared to just 38 percent supporting it. When gauging support if American taxpayers would have to foot the bill (the only scenario possible outside the grandest of delusions), the opposition climbed to 63 percent and support dropped to 35 percent.
Republicans might want the wall, but approval ratings so low that it will back even Republican congressmen into a corner. The support might rally the base, but will most certainly turn away even moderate Democrats and scare off roughly 70 percent of independents who also oppose the wall.
While the wall might cause a lot of theoretical chaos, the Muslim ban is having real-world consequences. The poll steered clear of that topic specifically, and other polls have found mixed results, but the Quinnipiac poll did ask about views of Islam in general.
When asked whether Islam promoted violence or peace, those polled said they believe Islam and Muslims to be peaceful by a more than 2:1 margin. Those numbers fly in the face of everything Trump has said about Islam both on the campaign trail and his first few weeks in office.
It’s easy to feel like the country has lost its collective mind. Racism has entered the White House once more as racists find themselves in power and back in the mainstream. Xenophobic executive orders —signed by a man too incompetent to bother reading them fully — sandwiched between the insane tweets attacking everything from the media to an entire branch of government have become the norm.
However, take heart knowing the majority of the country, or at least a plurality, still reject these things. Harness your fear into action. Turn that action into hope. And do so knowing millions stand with you in the fight for the American ideal.
