Poll: Fla. voters support border wall
Trump’s approval rating up, although more disapprove of his performance than approve
Florida voters are much more supportive of President Donald Trump’s signature issue — building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico — than they were a year ago.
A Florida Atlantic University Poll released Tuesday reports a majority of Florida voters now support the idea.
FAU pollsters also found Trump’s approval rating has ticked up in Florida, though he’s still underwater, with a greater share of voters disapproving of his performance than approving.
The poll found 41 percent of the state’s voters approve and 46 percent disapprove of Trump’s performance, a net negative of 5 percentage points.
Five months ago, Trump’s standing was slightly worse.
A Sept. 19 FAU poll found 39 percent of the state’s voters
DeSantis backed
approved and 47 percent disapproved of Trump’s performance, a net negative of 8 percentage points.
The latest snapshot of how voters view the Trump presidency comes after another tumultuous period, including massive losses for his party in the midterm elections, the indictment of his longtime confidante Roger Stone, and the partial government shutdown over his demand for a border wall.
Border wall
The FAU poll found 55 percent of Florida voters support construction of an additional wall along the border with Mexico and 37 percent opposed the idea.
In February 2018, FAU found Florida voters were evenly divided, with 43 percent supporting a wall and 45 percent opposing.
Republican support for the wall increased significantly in the last year. In the new poll, 84 percent of Republicans support and just 11 percent oppose the wall.
That was a net support of 73 percentage points among Republicans; a year ago it was 50 points.
Democratic opposition was still overwhelming, though slightly less than a year ago. In the new poll, 23 percent of Democrats supported and 67 percent opposed a wall, a net negative of 44 points. In February 2018, the wall had a net negative of 49 points.
Support for a wall surged among no party affiliation/independent voters.
In the new poll, 59 percent support and 29 percent oppose a wall, a net positive of 30 points. In February 2018, 37 percent of independents supported a wall and 43 percent were opposed, a net negative of 6 points.
Divisions
The FAU poll showed sharp divisions about Trump’s performance along party and gender lines:
80 percent of Democrats disapproving of Trump’s performance, giving him a negative of 69 points.
77 percent of Republicans approving, giving the president a net positive of 59 points.
35 percent of independent voters approving and 35 percent disapproving.
49 percent of men approving, giving him a net positive of 11 points among men.
53 percent of women disapproving, giving him a net negative of 19 points among women.
Also reflecting the deep partisan divides in Florida and nationally, the state’s voters were split on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Her approval was 40 percent and disapproval was 44 percent, a net negative of 4 percentage points.
Consistently underwater
In August, FAU reported Trump’s net negative was 2 percentage points.
In July, the FAU poll found Trump’s net negative was 6 percentage points.
In May, negative 2 points.
In February, he had net negative of 3 points.
Previous FAU surveys found Trump had a net negative of 6 points in November 2017; 10 percentage points in August 2017; 9 percentage points in June 2017; and 2 percentage points in March 2017. it was also percentage
Worse nationally
The president’s Florida numbers continue to outpace his national numbers. Nationally, a greater share of voters disapproves of Trump’s performance than in Florida.
The RealClearPolitics average of national polls, which includes nine current surveys, shows his approval at 42 percent and his disapproval at 54 percent, a net negative of 12 percentage points.
Fine print
aThe FAU Business and Economics Polling Initiative survey of 500 Florida registered voters was conducted online and through automated calls to people with landline telephones from Thursday through Saturday.
It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Breakdowns for smaller groups, such as Democrats, Republicans and independents and men and women, have higher margins of error.