Donald Trump is introduced at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2nd, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty)
Donald Trump voters do not believe the president’s recent executive order was intended to ban Muslims from entering the United States, but almost half of them wish it were, according to a new poll released on Thursday morning.
In the poll from the Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling, 71 percent of Donald Trump voters said that the intent of the president’s immigration executive order was not to ban Muslims from entering the country, but 48 percent of them said they would support doing so. Among all respondents, 52 percent said the intent of the executive order was to ban Muslims, and 65 percent said they oppose that.
When asked whether they support the executive order specifically, respondents were split. Forty-nine percent of them said they oppose the order, while 47 percent said they support it. As you can imagine, this divide is quite partisan, as 94 percent of Trump voters support the travel ban and 89 percent of Hillary Clinton voters oppose it. Among respondents who voted for someone other than Trump or Clinton, 58 percent of them oppose the ban.
Though voters were generally against banning Muslims from entering the U.S., they felt a bit differently about Syrian refugees. Forty-three percent of respondents said they support the U.S. suspending the acceptance of Syrian refugees indefinitely, while 48 percent opposed doing so. Finally, 55 percent of voters, including 15 percent of Trump voters, said the rollout of the executive order was poorly handled.
When asked if millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election, 55 percent of voters overall said that this did not happen, but 47 percent of Trump voters said it did.
Last week, a Public Policy Polling survey showed that 35 percent of voters already want Trump to be impeached, and in this poll, that number has risen to 40 percent. Forty-eight percent of voters oppose impeaching Trump, and 12 percent aren’t sure. Seven percent of Trump voters said that they either want Trump impeached or they aren’t sure whether he should be impeached.
Gallup also released a new poll on Thursday, and this one showed that 55 percent of Americans disapprove of temporarily banning entry into the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries, while 42 percent approve. In addition, 58 percent of those polled said that they disapprove of indefinitely suspending the Syrian refugee program, while 36 percent approve.
Another poll released today by The Huffington Post/YouGov again shows Americans are divided on Trump’s travel ban, but with more approving than disapproving. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they approve of the ban, while 42 percent disapprove.
YouGov also found that 47 percent of voters support reducing the number of refugees the United States takes in, compared to just 29 percent who oppose a reduction. Also, 48 percent of voters favor a 90-day ban on people entering the U.S. from the seven Muslim-majority countries named in Trump’s executive order, and a plurality of Americans – 38 percent – support completely stopping the admittance of Syrian refugees.
A Reuters/Ipsos on Tuesday showed that 49 percent of voters “strongly” or “somewhat” agree with the travel ban, while 41 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagree.