Poll: Trump falls short on handling race issues
Muslim, Hispanic, black people seen as worse off
NEW YORK – Large majorities of black and Latino Americans say they think Donald Trump’s actions as president have made things worse for people like them, and about two-thirds 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 feel as if 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 there.
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 Ukraine’s president to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she would launch a formal impeachment inquiry.
Trump has consistently said his economic policies are 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 has made things worse.
“He speaks nothing but hate rhetoric,” said Chris Smith, 38, an African American information technology worker in Columbia, Tennessee, 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.”
Trump has drawn widespread condemnation for perceived racist rhetoric throughout his presidency. He’s warned of an “invasion” at the southern border, posted disparaging tweets about four women of color in Congress, and attacked U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings’ largely black district in Baltimore as a “rat and rodent infested mess.” He said there were “very fine people on both sides” of clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters. But he has claimed he doesn’t have a “racist bone” in his body.
Sixty-nine percent of Latinos say they think Trump’s actions have been bad for Hispanics generally, while 19% think they’ve been good. Majorities of Latinos also believe Trump’s actions have been bad for African Americans, Muslims and women.
Among white Americans, about a third think Trump’s actions have been good for black Americans, women and Hispanics, while about a quarter think they have been good for Muslims. Forty-seven percent think Trump’s actions have been bad for Hispanics, 44% say they’ve been bad for Muslims, and 39% say they’ve been bad for women and black Americans.