Voters are polarized when it comes to many of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's statements, but that polarization increases if his name is actually added to the statements he makes, a new
Quinnipiac University poll shows.
The pollsters asked half of the 1,451 voters surveyed between March 16-21 if they disagreed or agreed with a statement or policy, while adding Trump's name when asking the other half about the policies to measure the "Trump effect."
They found, on one example question about the statement "The American dream is dead," that:
No name attached:
- 45 percent of people supporting Trump over Hillary Clinton in November agree strongly or somewhat, with 54 disagreeing.
- 31 percent of Trump's non-supporters agreed, and 68 percent disagreed.
And with Trump's name added:
- 68 percent of Trump voters agree while 30 percent disagree;
- 18 percent of non-Trump voters agree while 81 percent disagree.
"Even on Donald Trump's most infamous quotes, attaching him to the statement affects voters' opinions," said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz.
The same held true with policies suggested by Trump. When voters are asked about a complete shutdown of Muslims entering America, with no mention of Trump:
- 76 percent of Trump voters strongly or somewhat agree while 22 percent disagree;
- 26 percent of non-Trump voters agree while 73 percent disagree.
And with Trump's name added:
- 88 percent of Trump voters agree, while 10 percent disagree;
- 18 percent of non-Trump voters agree, while 80 percent disagree.
The same effects were seen in voters' reaction to proposals such as expanding the use of torture on terror suspects, as well as Trump's call to deport the nations' illegal immigrants.
The poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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