Trump Is Gaining Acceptance from More in the GOP, But Less So With the Rest of the Public
Washington, DC—New polling from MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist underscores how Donald Trump is corroding our national politics and the Republican Party’s general election chances. The poll, which includes a Latino voter oversample, demonstrates that general election voters as a whole and Latino voters in particular find Donald Trump to be insulting and that his association with the Republican Party is harming the GOP’s brand image and overall 2016 chances.
As NBC News Political reporter Carrie Dann recaps of the new polling:
“A majority of Americans – and an even greater majority of Latinos – say that GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is hurting the Republican Party’s image, and half of Americans believe that his rhetoric is ‘insulting and offensive,’ a new MSNBC/Telemundo/Marist poll shows.
According to the poll, 58 percent of adults say that Trump has marred the GOP’s reputation, compared to just 24 percent who say he is helping its image. Among Hispanics, that margin is 65 percent compared to just 16 percent who say he has helped the party.
… Republicans still give Trump relatively high marks for style, with 71 percent dubbing Trump’s rhetoric as ‘telling it like it is.’ A quarter of Republicans, on the other hand, say that Trump’s words are ‘insulting and offensive.’
… among all Americans, about half – 52 percent – say his language is offensive, while 43 percent say he’s ‘telling it like it is.’
… among all adults, Trump has a 27 percent positive/ 55 percent negative rating.
And two-thirds of Latinos – 67 percent – have a negative view of Trump, with 55 percent saying their view is very negative. Just 17 percent of Latinos give him a thumbs up.”
In the face of this existential threat that Trump poses for the Republican Party’s general election chances (as well as fundamental American values), most of his fellow Republicans have been shamefully silent. As the Washington Post editorial board recently stated,
“… [N]o mainstream party should associate with Mr. Trump, let alone support him should he somehow claim the GOP nomination. Republican leaders such as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and the various GOP presidential candidates should say, now, that they would never endorse or vote for him. Instead, despite some scattered criticism, prominent Republicans sit on the sidelines waiting for Mr. Trump to flame out. A common line is the one Mr. Ryan used last month — that ‘every one’ of those running for the GOP nomination ‘would be a far better president than Hillary Clinton.’ This is obviously wrong: Mr. Trump represents a fundamental threat to the country’s political fabric … Sounding anything like Mr. Trump is a winning formula for ethical bankruptcy.”
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