President is a racist, most in US say

WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump is a racist, according to a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

More than half of adults think his policies have worsened the lives of Muslims and Hispanics, while almost half believe the president has worsened the lives of African Americans. Of the 57 percent of adults who say the nation’s leader is a racist, 8 in 10 are black, three-quarters are Hispanic and almost half are white.

About 85 percent of Democrats say Trump is a racist, while 21 percent of Republicans say the same, according to the poll, which surveyed 1,337 adults from Feb. 15-19.

Experts say the findings should not come as a surprise considering America’s polarized views on race, as well as Trump’s divisive remarks in crucial moments last year as racial tensions came to a boil. When a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August left a woman dead and several others injured, many in the nation expected the president to condemn the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other hate groups that organized the rally.

Trump did, albeit belatedly, but then also said “there’s blame on both sides.”

The idea that Trump is a racist isn’t new, as he had a history of actions and comments perceived to be discriminatory toward people of color that spans four decades. For example, he was sued by the federal government in the 1970s for turning black tenants away from his buildings.

Previous polls have asked about Trump’s biases, including one conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News in January, which found that 52 percent of Americans said the president was biased against black people.

But this most recent poll shows the highest percentages yet of people saying Trump is a racist.