On election night 2016, as Donald Trump was confirmed the improbable winner, CNN analyst Van Jones declared the outcome to be, “…a whitelash against a changing country.” Our own analysis, and that of other scholars, confirm that voters’ attitudes on immigration in 2016 were highly polarized along partisan and ethno-racial […] Read more »
NBC/WSJ poll: Public gives Trump thumbs down on Russia, thumbs up on economy
After an eventful and tumultuous month in American politics, majorities of American voters disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of Russia and immigration at the border, while half approve of his job on the economy, according to a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Trump’s overall job-approval rating in […] Read more »
Why evangelical voters support Trump’s policy on refugees — even though evangelical leaders object
… We might expect that evangelical leaders’ Bible-based arguments would lead rank-and-file evangelicals to welcome refugees. That’s not what’s happened. Instead, white evangelicals have supported President Trump’s closed-door policies wholeheartedly. … Why are lay evangelicals broadly opposed to allowing refugees into the country, defying their leaders? My research shows their […] Read more »
Most Americans oppose key parts of Trump immigration plans
Americans overwhelmingly oppose the Trump administration’s now-rescinded policy of separating immigrant children from their parents, and smaller majorities also disagree with the president’s call to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and to restrict legal immigration by limiting citizens from bringing parents and siblings to this country, according to […] Read more »
A bad week for Democrats gives rise to a big problem: Outrage could become an obstacle in midterms
Growing liberal agitation over a pivotal Supreme Court retirement and a simmering crisis of migrant child separation have left Democratic leaders scrambling to keep the political outrage they’d counted on to fuel midterm election wins from becoming a liability for the party. Internal party debates have broken into public view […] Read more »
Growing Divide on Immigration and America’s Moral Leadership
Fewer than half (40%) of the public believes that the U.S. sets a good moral example for the rest of the world. Nearly six in ten (58%) believe we do not. Views have been remarkably stable since 2015 when only 43% of Americans said the U.S. provided a good moral […] Read more »