Large majorities of black and Latino Americans think Donald Trump’s actions as president have made things worse for people like them, and about two-thirds of Americans overall disapprove of how he’s handling race relations, according to a new poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
About half of all Americans think Trump’s actions have been bad for African Americans, Muslims and women, and slightly more than half say they’ve been bad for Latinos.
Trump’s 33% approval rating on handling race relations makes that one of his worst issues in recent AP-NORC polls. That stands in stark contrast to his handling of the economy: About half say they approve of his handling of that issue, while views of current economic conditions continue to be rosy amid robust employment numbers and a strong stock market.
The poll provides a bleak assessment of how the nation views Trump on race issues as he runs for a second term and repeatedly boasts of his popularity among African Americans and Latinos. Trump has consistently said his economic policies have been good for people of color, but the poll shows few black Americans think that’s true.
Just 4% say they think Trump’s actions have been good for African Americans in general, while 81% think he’s made things worse. Similar shares of black Americans think Trump has been bad for Latinos, Muslims and women. “He speaks nothing but hate rhetoric,” said Chris Smith, 38, an African American information technology worker in Columbia, Tennessee, who considers himself independent but leans Democratic.
The poll comes weeks after a suspected gunman, who is white, apparently wrote an anti-Hispanic rant before opening fire in El Paso, Texas, with an AK-47-style rifle on Walmart shoppers, many of them Latino. Sixty-nine percent of Latinos think Trump’s actions have been bad for Latinos generally, while 19% think they’ve been good.
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