A new Rasmussen survey released Friday shows most votes believe President Donald Trump sides with law enforcement while Democratic leaders “line up with the protesters.”
The poll, taken Aug. 5, follows an earlier survey that revealed a majority likely voters think mob violence that has continued in some cities for weeks, such as Portland, Ore., is caused mostly by criminals taking advantage of protests against the police.
An earlier poll found that 50 percent of likely voters believe political leaders in cities such as Seattle or Portland “are encouraging violent protests by limiting the police response.”
Sixty percent of Rasmussen survey respondents “believe most national Democratic leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi identify more with the protesters in violent protest situations. Only eight percent (8%) feel they identify more with the police. Twenty-three percent (23%) think they try to be impartial.”
With national elections less than 90 days away, that’s not a good impression for voters to have. It also explains why many people have visited gun stores in recent weeks, perhaps for the first time in their lives. With threats of police department cuts in major cities, people are concerned for their own safety and buying guns is part of the process of becoming self-reliant. Another Rasmussen survey released Friday underscores this, revealing that 47 percent of voters “say they or someone in their household now owns a gun, and of those with a gun in the house, 27% say they or someone in their family has purchased one within the last six months.”
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the United States needs stricter gun control laws, but that’s down from a record 64% a year ago following mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose additional gun control. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Meanwhile, 66 percent believe the president identifies more with police in violent protest situations, while only 11 percent think he identifies with protesters.
The surveys come at a time when far left protesters appear to not only have the attention of local politicians more than any other group, but at least in Portland, they’re proving local leaders wrong. Two weeks ago, when federal agents showed up in Portland to protect federal property, Mayor Ted Wheeler wanted them out of the city, claiming their presence was the cause of continued rioting.
But the Portland Oregonian reported Friday that trouble is continuing in the city despite the departure of the federal agents. The newspaper is reporting, “Tensions between Portland police and a small group of protesters flared Thursday outside a Southeast Portland police precinct for the second straight night.” The newspaper said a crowd of about 200 gathered outside the precinct, and some started paint on buildings and lit a fire in a trash can.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, police are fighting back against an effort led by Socialist City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant to cut police funding. This Sunday, Aug. 9, a noon rally will be held at City Hall. The Seattle Police Officers Guild is running an online poll asking citizens to oppose the defunding measure, and more than 150,000 people have signed. A tweet from the organization noted that in the last municipal election, only 22,263 people voted for Sawant.
The Seattle P-I.com is reporting that Sawant and other council members continue to look at ways to slash police department funding. Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best have called the proposed cuts “unattainable and unworkable.”
Sawant has made some alarming statements in a video that has been circulating since last month. While her comments are made toward Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, there has been something of a ripple effect.
After passing the "Amazon Tax," Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant went on this unhinged rant.
She threatens to seize control of the Fortune 500 and overthrow the "racist, sexist, violent, utterly bankrupt system of capitalism."
If you oppose her? "We are coming for you." pic.twitter.com/2L17D6wScp
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 7, 2020
We are preparing the ground for a different kind of society,” she begins, “and if you, Jeff Bezos, want to drive that process forward by lashing out against us in our modest demands, then so be it. Because we are coming for you and your rotten system.”
But then she says this: “We are coming to dismantle this deeply oppressive, racist, sexist, violent, utterly bankrupt system of capitalism. This police state. We cannot and will not stop until we overthrow it, and replace it with a world based, instead, on solidarity, genuine democracy, and equality: a socialist world. Thank you.”
How all of this will play into the November elections remains to be seen. But there are clearly two sides forming up. Trump is on one that tilts toward public safety, Democrats are on the other, that leans toward those who are perceived as a threat to public safety.
