Poll: Majority Of Americans Disapprove Of Trump’s Protest Rhetoric

TOPLINE

Six in 10 Americans disapprove of President Trump’s “message in response to the” George Floyd protests, a new poll finds, a sign the president’s calls for “law and order” and combative rhetoric toward demonstrations could be backfiring.

KEY FACTS

Key background

As protests turned violent in cities across the country after Floyd’s death, Trump took a hard-line stance, at one point warning protesters on Twitter that “…when the looting starts, the shooting starts!” (the tweet was later flagged by Twitter for promoting violence), referring to certain protesters as “thugs” and “terrorists,” and suggesting that protesters who hopped the White House fence would be met with “ominous weapons” and “vicious dogs.” The president has repeatedly threatened to send in federal forces into states to quell protests, and has discussed invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops in American cities.

Tangent

Trump’s recent tweets calling for “law and order” and shouting out the “silent majority” are phrases popularized by former President Richard Nixon, who rose to power in the aftermath of the 1960s civil rights movement promising to crack down on crime. 

Further reading

Republicans Are Breaking From Trump Like We’ve Never Seen (Forbes)

Majorities of Americans Say News Coverage of George Floyd Protests Has Been Good, Trump’s Public Message Wrong (Pew Research Center)