SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
In protests around the world, the anti-Trump resistance has asserted this week that the white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville last week were to blame for the violence that ensued. (Photo: Majka Czapski/Flickr/cc)
Despite Harsh Rebuke for Charlottesville Stance, Trump's Base Remains Loyal
In new poll, 87 percent of Republicans said they, like Trump, believe "both sides" were to blame for violence that killed counter-protester
Aug 18, 2017
While many in the news media, in Washington, across social media, and in the streets have swiftly condemned President Donald Trump for his comments asserting that both the white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia and the counter-protesters who demonstrated against the so-called "Unite the Right" rally were to blame for the ensuing violence, a new poll shows that many Republicans agree with him.
In a SurveyMonkey poll, 2,181 respondents were presented with a direct quote from Trump's unruly Tuesday press conference: "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent."
While most Democrats and Independents disagreed, 87 percent of Republicans backed the statement.
A growing number of conservative establishment members have attempted to distance themselves from the president's comments in recent days, including eight members of Trump's manufacturing council, causing him to disband the group; Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch, head of 21st Century Fox; and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But the poll results suggest that as more GOP figures pivot away from the president's rhetoric, they're also distancing themselves from a loyal Trump base which is reluctant to criticize even his most contentious viewpoints.
More recent poll results show further evidence that while the Trump resistance movement is active and vocal, the president's biggest fans are showing few signs of budging in their support.
A CBS poll released Thursday found that 67 percent of Republicans approved of the way Trump handled the violence in Charlottesville, while 82 percent of Democrats disapproved. Only 51 percent of Republicans said they would classify Heather Heyer's murder as an act of domestic terrorism. Many expressed alarm about the seemingly unbreakable hold Trump appears to have on his base.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
While many in the news media, in Washington, across social media, and in the streets have swiftly condemned President Donald Trump for his comments asserting that both the white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia and the counter-protesters who demonstrated against the so-called "Unite the Right" rally were to blame for the ensuing violence, a new poll shows that many Republicans agree with him.
In a SurveyMonkey poll, 2,181 respondents were presented with a direct quote from Trump's unruly Tuesday press conference: "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent."
While most Democrats and Independents disagreed, 87 percent of Republicans backed the statement.
A growing number of conservative establishment members have attempted to distance themselves from the president's comments in recent days, including eight members of Trump's manufacturing council, causing him to disband the group; Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch, head of 21st Century Fox; and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But the poll results suggest that as more GOP figures pivot away from the president's rhetoric, they're also distancing themselves from a loyal Trump base which is reluctant to criticize even his most contentious viewpoints.
More recent poll results show further evidence that while the Trump resistance movement is active and vocal, the president's biggest fans are showing few signs of budging in their support.
A CBS poll released Thursday found that 67 percent of Republicans approved of the way Trump handled the violence in Charlottesville, while 82 percent of Democrats disapproved. Only 51 percent of Republicans said they would classify Heather Heyer's murder as an act of domestic terrorism. Many expressed alarm about the seemingly unbreakable hold Trump appears to have on his base.
While many in the news media, in Washington, across social media, and in the streets have swiftly condemned President Donald Trump for his comments asserting that both the white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia and the counter-protesters who demonstrated against the so-called "Unite the Right" rally were to blame for the ensuing violence, a new poll shows that many Republicans agree with him.
In a SurveyMonkey poll, 2,181 respondents were presented with a direct quote from Trump's unruly Tuesday press conference: "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent."
While most Democrats and Independents disagreed, 87 percent of Republicans backed the statement.
A growing number of conservative establishment members have attempted to distance themselves from the president's comments in recent days, including eight members of Trump's manufacturing council, causing him to disband the group; Rupert Murdoch's son James Murdoch, head of 21st Century Fox; and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. But the poll results suggest that as more GOP figures pivot away from the president's rhetoric, they're also distancing themselves from a loyal Trump base which is reluctant to criticize even his most contentious viewpoints.
More recent poll results show further evidence that while the Trump resistance movement is active and vocal, the president's biggest fans are showing few signs of budging in their support.
A CBS poll released Thursday found that 67 percent of Republicans approved of the way Trump handled the violence in Charlottesville, while 82 percent of Democrats disapproved. Only 51 percent of Republicans said they would classify Heather Heyer's murder as an act of domestic terrorism. Many expressed alarm about the seemingly unbreakable hold Trump appears to have on his base.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.