AP-NORC POLL: MOST DISAPPROVE OF TRUMP ON RACE RELATIONS
YORK» Large majorities of NEW black and Latino Americans think Donald Trump’s actions as president have made things worse for people like them, and about twothirds of Americans overall disapprove of how he’s handling race relations, according to a new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
About half of all Americans think Trump’s actions have been bad for African-Americans, Muslims and women, and slightly more than half say they’ve been bad for Hispanics.
Trump’s 33% approval rating on handling race relations makes that one of his worst issues in recent AP-NORC polls. That stands in stark contrast to his handling of the economy: About half say they approve of his handling of that issue, while views of current economic conditions continue to be rosy amid robust employment numbers and a strong stock market.
Four in 10 Americans said they approve of Trump overall, according to the poll, conducted before the release of a rough transcript of a phone call showing Trump prodded the president of Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she would launch a formal impeachment inquiry.
The poll provides a bleak assessment of how the nation views Trump on race issues as he runs for a second term and repeatedly boasts of his popularity among African-Americans and Latinos. Trump has consistently said his economic policies have been good for African-Americans and other people of color.
But the poll shows few black Americans think that’s true. Just 4% say they think Trump’s actions have been good for African-Americans in general, while 81% think he’s made things worse. Similar shares of black Americans think Trump has been bad for Hispanics, Muslims and women.
“He speaks nothing but hate rhetoric,” said Chris Smith, 38, an African-American information technology worker in Columbia, Tenn., who considers himself independent but leans Democratic. “If the leader of this country is free to speak like that, there’s going to be people who think it’s OK to speak like that.”
“He’s making people live their life in fear,” Smith said.