The Jerusalem Post

Majority of American voters say Trump is racist

Poll: 46% of white voters think Donald Trump is racist, 50% think he isn’t, and 4% are undecided

- • By MAAYAN HOFFMAN

More than half (51%) of US voters think that US President Donald Trump is racist, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University released earlier this week.

When broken down by race, 46% of white voters think Donald Trump is racist, as compared with 50% who say he is not and 4% who were undecided. Some 80% of black voters and 55% of Hispanic voters say he is racist.

A Pew Research survey – examining the likely makeup of the electorate in the 2020 US presidenti­al election – found that nonwhites will account for a third of eligible voters.

When breaking down the racist question by religion, there was an even greater divide.

“Only 21% of white Evangelica­ls believe the president is racist,” said Quinnipiac University polling analyst Mary Snow. “Compare that to 63% of voters who don’t affiliate with any organized religion.”

During Tuesday and Wednesday’s Democratic party debates, presidenti­al hopefuls united in accusing Trump of racism. They specifical­ly called out his recent repeated attacks on the majority-black city of Baltimore.

“He is using the tired old language of demagogues, of fearmonger­s, of racists,” said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

Last week Trump called Baltimore a “rat and rodent-infested mess” and the “worst in the USA,” while vehemently attacking Democratic Representa­tive Elijah Cummings and his black-majority Maryland district. Some 32,000 Jews live in Cummings’ Baltimore district.

Last month Trump engaged in a Twitter feud with Congresswo­men Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, in which he told the minority congresswo­men that “If you are not happy, you can leave. If you hate our country, you can leave. Some people thought it’s controvers­ial; many people love it.”

He said that Omar “left Somalia, a failed country,” and added that “she hates Israel, hates Jews.”

Another striking statistic revealed in the private poll was that American voters are concerned with election interferen­ce. Some 71% of American voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that a foreign government may try to interfere in the 2020 elections. Furthermor­e, 59% of voters think Congress should pass additional laws to protect the 2020 US election from foreign interferen­ce.

In Israel, likewise, foreign interferen­ce remains a concern ahead of the September 17 election. Supreme Court Judge Hanan Melczer told media leaders in a recent briefing that the Central Elections Committee has taken several steps to prevent such interferen­ce from occurring.

 ?? (Leah Millis/Reuters) ?? US PRESIDENT Donald Trump stands outside the Oval Office after welcoming Mongolia’s President Khaltmaagi­in Battulga to the White House.
(Leah Millis/Reuters) US PRESIDENT Donald Trump stands outside the Oval Office after welcoming Mongolia’s President Khaltmaagi­in Battulga to the White House.

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