Support Dips for Protests, but Many Americans Reject Trump’s Response: Reuters/Ipsos Poll

Americans’ support for the Black Lives Matter protests has declined since the immediate aftermath of the death of 👤George Floyd in May renewed a national conversation on race, yet more than half still disapprove of President 👤Donald Trump’s response, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.

The July 27-28 poll also showed a largely partisan reaction to Trump’s decision to deploy federal agents to quell demonstrators in some cities against the wishes of local authorities. About four in 10, most of them Democrats, say Republican Trump is just trying to help himself politically as he seeks a second term in the Nov. 3 election.

The poll follows a series of late-night clashes between protesters and federal police in Portland, Oregon, where demonstrators have held nightly anti-racism rallies. Trump sent federal police into the city despite the mayor’s objections to deal with what he called “anarchists and agitators,” and he has sent others to Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City and Albuquerque.

According to the poll, 52% of American adults say they are sympathetic to those who are still gathering to protest the police treatment of minorities, especially African Americans, about 12 percentage points lower than a similar poll that ran in mid-June.

But a majority of Americans remain unhappy with the way he has responded. The poll showed 54% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the protests, which is only a slight improvement from a similar poll that ran in mid-June when 58% disapproved.

The rise in support comes primarily from Republicans who have backed the president in greater numbers as the protests rage across the country: 78% said they approved of Trump’s response to the demonstrations in the latest poll, up from 67% in mid-June. Nearly nine out of 10 Democrats say they do not like the way Trump is dealing with the protests, and that has not changed over since June.