Quinnipiac: 51% believe Trump is racist

They neglected to ask the key follow-up question: “If you answered yes, are you considering voting for him anyway?”

Another good one would have been, “Can someone be racist if they don’t use racial slurs?”

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Lots of interesting splits here, and of course independents are always notable, but the gender divide may be the most interesting.

White men are -20 on the question. White women are +9. The AP spent some time in suburban neighborhoods this past weekend interviewing women there about Trump’s recent outbursts at figure like Elijah Cummings and the Squad. On the one hand, man-on-the-street interviews touching on race would seem especially prone to social desirability bias, with participants keenly aware that they’re expected to give a particular answer in order to show their own sensitivity. On the other hand, the Quinnipiac numbers are scientific and they are what they are. A majority of white women see racial bias in Trump and they’re a key bloc in the suburban districts that helped Democrats to a new House majority next fall. Whether Trump’s wars with the Squad, Cummings, Al Sharpton, and other minority pols are winners or losers for him electorally may depend on how white women stomach them, but it’s not going well so far if you believe the AP:

In more than three dozen interviews by The Associated Press with women in critical suburbs, nearly all expressed dismay — or worse — at Trump’s racially polarizing insults and what was often described as unpresidential treatment of people. Even some who gave Trump credit for the economy or backed his crackdown on immigration acknowledged they were troubled or uncomfortable lining up behind the president…

“It was mainly when he got into office when my opinion started changing,” said [Emily] West, 26. “Just the way he treats people.”

“I did not think it was going to be as bad as it is — definitely narcissism and sexism, but I did not think it was going to be as bad as it is,” said Kathy Barnes while shopping in the Denver suburb of conservative-leaning Lone Tree. “I am just ashamed to be an American right now.”…

“I don’t think I should say those words in front of my daughter,” [Yael Telgheder] said, her 3-year-old next to her. “To be honest, there are certain things that — he’s a businessman — so I understand the reasons behind them. But all of the disrespect and lies and stuff like that, it’s just too much for me.”

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“Trump fatigue” is a real thing, I’m sure. Trump fatigue specifically in the context of him picking fights with minority pols might be a real thing, if not now then eventually. Trump fatigue that’s so intense that people are willing to overlook steady economic growth and roll the dice on a left-wing Democrat is … less of a thing, I’m guessing.

In fact, Quinnipiac also asked voters about impeachment for its new poll. Between the Mueller hearing and the war with the Squad and Cummings, you might expect the majority of Americans who think Trump is racist to be newly eager to oust him. Not so:

That doesn’t mean they want to reelect him, but nothing he’s done thus far is a firing offense to a solid 60 percent of Americans. As for whether the fight he’s picked with Cummings is off-the-cuff or strategic, sources tell the Times and WaPo that it’s the former. He’s not following some carefully scripted plan to bait minority pols in order to get working-class whites excited (yet?), he’s annoyed that Cummings’s committee issued subpoenas for texts and emails drafted sent to or from Jared Kushner and Ivanka. He was just lashing out.

Several White House officials expressed agreement during a staff meeting on Monday morning that the president’s attacks were a bad move, according to people informed about the discussion, but they were uncertain who could intervene with him — or if anyone would even dare try.

They privately scoffed at the idea that it was strategy rather than impulse, concluding that any political benefit he might derive by revving up his conservative, largely white base could be offset by alienating more moderate voters in the suburbs of states like Wisconsin and Michigan that he needs to win a second term.

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Trump himself told reporters today that there’s no strategy, “zero strategy.” Watch below. And if you have time, skim through the rest of the Quinnipiac data to see how Americans responded to questions about conditions at immigrant detention facilities. Democratic attacks seem to be penetrating, with 51 percent of Americans saying conditions at the facilities are inhumane (just 35 percent disagree), 62 percent saying the feds aren’t doing enough to improve them, and 53 percent saying it’s better to release immigrants if facilities are overcrowded even if it means they won’t show up for their court dates versus 31 percent who say they should be held anyway. Americans prefer catch-and-release to what’s happening now.

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Ed Morrissey 10:40 PM | October 03, 2024
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