America Has Spoken: Trump's Border Wall Approval Reaches All-Time High
The media seems to be working overtime to paint President Donald Trump as an extremist for wanting a southern border wall, but a new poll just revealed that a growing number of Americans agree with him.
On Sunday, the results of a joint ABC News / Washington Post poll were released and they run counter to the recent media narratives. Instead of becoming more opposed to Trump’s famous border proposal, support for the wall is now at a record high.
A year ago, only 34 percent of citizens said they supported the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Today, that number has grown to 42 percent, the highest yet measured by similar polls.
It must be noted, of course, that this means a slight majority of Americans don’t agree with the president on this issue or are on the fence, if you’ll pardon the pun. But the results show that people are coming around to Trump’s point of view.
“With 54 percent, the majority of Americans polled still oppose building a border wall,” reported The Washington Examiner. “However, that opposition is shrinking, as 63 percent opposed the wall a year ago and the previous low was 60 percent two years ago.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2019
That suggests that even with the government shutdown triggered by the impasse over wall funding, people are re-considering the issue, and a surprising number are realizing that the president’s request isn’t so crazy after all.
However, there is a lot of frustration to go around.
“Fifty-three percent in the national survey said that Trump and the GOP are mainly responsible for the shutdown, while 29 percent blamed congressional Democrats,” ABC News explained. “Thirteen percent said both equally are at fault.”
For his part, Trump has been pushing the pro-wall argument hard. As the shutdown continues, the president traveled to the border area to meet with law enforcement officials and used Twitter to make his stance clear.
“The damage done to our country from a badly broken border — drugs, crime and so much that is bad — is far greater than a shutdown, which the Dems can easily fix as they come back to Washington!” he posted on Sunday.
The damage done to our Country from a badly broken Border – Drugs, Crime and so much that is bad – is far greater than a Shutdown, which the Dems can easily fix as soon as they come back to Washington!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019
Another interesting insight from this poll — especially for conservatives — is that few Americans seem to actually be inconvenienced by the partial government shutdown which has been dominating the headlines.
“Only 18 percent in this poll … said they’ve personally been affected by the partial shutdown,” ABC News reported.
That outlet also noted that only seven percent of Americans said it was a “major inconvenience.”
This raises a point that conservatives and libertarians have been asking for a while: If the majority of citizens can’t even tell the difference between the fully funded government and one that is “partially shut down,” why are we spending so much every year on the paychecks of bureaucrats?
Every government shutdown is an interesting opportunity to ask just how much of the often bloated federal government is actually necessary, and how much has grown too big for its britches.
The real takeaway of this poll, however, is that the media spin just isn’t resonating with the American people. There are many examples of talking heads openly mocking the president’s stance on the border and acting as if he’s a man alone on this issue.
Once again, reality doesn’t match their words.
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