A new poll found that the majority of Americans believe the self-proclaimed "least racist person"--and serial liar--President Donald Trump is in fact a racist, and that his policies have been particularly harmful to people of color.
"The problem isn't just that Trump's a racist. It's that he keeps acting on his racism."
--Karine Jean-Pierre, MoveOn.org
The survey, conducted last month and released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that 57 percent of respondents--including 84 percent of blacks--believe Trump is racist, contrary to the president's own proclamations.
It is not just Trump's racist remarks that respondents took issue with--they also expressed concerns about the impacts of his policies: 57 percent of Americans believe his policies have been bad for Muslims; 56 percent believe they have been bad for Hispanics; and 47 percent believe they have been bad for blacks. (The poll also found 47 percent of those surveyed believe his policies have been bad for women.)
As former White House aide and current MoveOn.org national spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre put it: "The problem isn't just that Trump's a racist. It's that he keeps acting on his racism."
Jean-Pierre, a Haitian-American who wrote a response to Trump's "shithole" remarks earlier this year, emphasized that "they're not just comments: they're the basis for Trump's mass deportation policy." She pointed to the president's efforts to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as well as his constant calls for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pollsters also asked if Americans believe certain groups have a hard time getting ahead in Trump's America. They found the majority of respondents believe Muslims, Hispanics, immigrants, and LGBTQ people have faced disadvantages. Each group has been targeted by the Trump administration at various points since the president took office, through measures such as multiple Muslim bans, attempts to ramp up immigration enforcement, and the implementation of his so-called religious freedom agenda.