Poll: Majority of Americans Believe Media Is More Divisive than Trump
A new poll found that Americans believe the news media is more to blame for the nation’s current divisive political climate than President Donald Trump.
Sixty-four percent of respondents to the Politico/Morning Consult survey published on Thursday said the media have done more to divide the country, while 17 percent said they have done more to unite it.
By comparison, 56 percent felt Trump was more of a divider, and 30 percent thought he was more of a uniter.
The sentiments of those responding, unsurprisingly, fell along party lines.
The vast majority of Democrats, 88 percent, as well as 54 percent of independents, found Trump divisive.
Meanwhile, 55 percent of Republicans believed Trump had done more to unite the country.
“The poll was conducted Oct. 25-30, a tumultuous week that included the Oct. 26 arrest of a Florida man on charges of sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and other Trump critics, and the Oct. 27 murder of 11 Jewish worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue,” Politico reported.
At a campaign rally in Florida on Wednesday night, Trump called out the media for stoking resentment in the U.S.
“The left wing media doesn’t want to solve problems, they want to stoke resentment, it has to stop,” he said. “Our movement is about safe homes and great jobs for every citizen.”
#AmericaFirst– @realDonaldTrump: The Left-Wing media doesn’t want to solve problems they want to stoke resentment. It has to stop. Our movement is about safe homes and great jobs for every citizen. #MAGA #TrumpTrain #Dobbs pic.twitter.com/cCr5j3CKqO
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) November 1, 2018
In a tweet earlier this week, Trump wrote, “The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!”
The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
In another tweet, he added, “CNN and others in the Fake News Business keep purposely and inaccurately reporting that I said the ‘Media is the Enemy of the People.’ Wrong! I said that the ‘Fake News (Media) is the Enemy of the People,’ a very big difference. When you give out false information – not good!”
CNN has particularly seemed to go out of its way to pin the country’s current political climate on Trump.
Following Saturday’s synagogue shooting, CNN’s Victor Blackwell pushed the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. on the issue of whether Trump shared responsibility for the attack.
“I think you’ve seen an increase in anti-Semitism really now for a couple of decades,” Ambassador Ron Dermer replied. He offered the example of a 2006 shooting at the Seattle Jewish Federation during which six people were shot and one died.
He also pointed to attacks on two Jewish centers in Kansas City in 2014, during which five people were shot at and three died.
CNN’s Don Lemon blamed Fox News and Trump for the nation’s political climate, adding, “I don’t see Democrats killing people” over politics.
Additionally, CNN host Jake Tapper did not correct a panelist who claimed the president “has radicalized more people than ISIS.”
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