Majority of voters judge Trump racist
Poll responses show split along lines of sex, race
WASHINGTON – A narrow majority of Americans voters say President Donald Trump is a racist, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
Fifty-one percent of voters say they think Trump is a racist. Forty-five percent say they do not think so, and 5% don’t know.
Opinions break down along party lines.
Ninety-one percent of Republicans say they do not think Trump is racist; 8% say they do. Eighty-six percent of Democrats say he is racist, and 9% do not. Among independent voters, 56% say Trump is racist compared with 38% who do not.
The poll reveals a divide on the question along lines of sex, race and religion. Eighty percent of blacks and 55% of Hispanics say Trump is a racist, 50% of whites say he is not.
Forty-one percent of men say he is a racist, and 55% say he is not. Fiftynine percent of women say he is, and 36% say he is not.
At 38%, white men are the least likely to say Trump is racist; 58% of that group says he isn’t. Fifty-three percent of white women say he is racist, and 44% do not.
Twenty-one percent of evangelical Christians say Trump is a racist; 76% say he is not. Among Catholics, 48% say he is racist, and 50% say he is not. Among those who say they are not religious, 63% say the president is a racist.
In two Quinnipiac polls in 2018, 49% of voters said Trump was a racist. The latest poll is the first time the poll found a majority saying he is.
A Fox News poll released last week found that 57% of voters said Trump doesn’t respect racial minorities, and 34% said he does. Sixtythree percent said his tweets about four minority congresswomen “crossed the line.”
Accusations of racism have followed Trump for decades. July saw a spike in such accusations after the president told the four congresswomen to “go back” to the “crime infested places from which they came” and called the majority-black city of Baltimore a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.”
Trump denied the accusations of racism Tuesday, saying, “I am the least racist person there is anywhere in the world.”
The poll touches on policy and the tone of politics.
Eighty-eight percent of voters say there is a lack of civility in politics. The numbers are split fairly evenly among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Overall, 45% blame Trump for the lack of civility, and 34% blame Democrats.