Trump’s Focus On Violent Crime Isn’t Helping Him In The Polls

As Trump and the media have focused more attention on violence and property crime amid chaotic protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon, commentators, Republicans and even Democrats have speculated that Trump would see a polling boost due to his “law and order” rhetoric.

In a Quinnipiac poll of 1,081 likely voters, Biden was seen as the candidate more likely to keep voters safe, with 42% saying he would make the country more safe and 40% saying he would make it less safe, compared to 35% who said Trump would make the country more safe and 50% who said he would make it less safe.

The echoes a Morning Consult poll of 1,988 registered voters that has Biden favored by 19 points on race relations and 8 points on public safety, and an Economist/YouGov poll that found 53% of voters uneasy about Trump’s handling of crime compared to 43% for Biden, even after much of the GOP Convention was spent slamming Biden’s record on race and perceived softness on crime.

One reason for Biden apparent advantage is that the majority of the country agrees with his stances on protests; a Yahoo/YouGov poll of 1,001 U.S. adults found that 61% favor “bringing people together” as the way to get things under control, compared to 39% who said “law and order,” while 53% of Americans in a Reuters/Ipsos poll said they sympathize with Black Lives Matter protesters and 57% of voters in a Suffolk University poll said peaceful demonstrations should continue despite the violence in some cities.

But crime is also seen as a lesser priority amid the enormous problems facing the country, with just 5% of voters in the Economist/YouGov poll rating it the most important and 8% naming it as a top priority in the Reuters/Ipsos poll.

A Global Strategy Group/GBAO poll found that, when asked to name the four issues that are most important for the president and Congress to be focusing on right now, just 18% said violent crime compared to 61% who said coronavirus, 48% who said jobs and the economy and 37% who said health care.