A slim majority of people polled disapprove of Donald Trump’s response to Sunday’s terrorist shooting in Florida.
Following the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, 51 percent of those surveyed in a new CBS News poll released Wednesday do not like the way the Republican presidential front-runner has been responding to the attack. Just 25 percent approve, while 24 percent said they do not know or declined to respond.
Trump has faced bipartisan criticism since tweeting on Sunday after the attack, “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”
He also has given various speeches since Sunday’s attack in which he has renewed calls for a ban on Muslims from entering the country.
The poll said 62 percent of Democrats approve of presumed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s response to the attack. Just 50 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s response.
People also said they approved of President Obama’s response to Sunday’s attack, as 44 percent gave him favorable marks and 34 percent had an unfavorable view. Another 22 percent said they did not know or declined to respond.
Overall, 57 percent said the Sunday attack would be best characterized as both a hate crime against gays and lesbians and an act of terrorism, while 14 percent said it was mostly a terrorist act and 25 percent said it was mostly a hate crime.
Sunday’s shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., by Omar Mateen left 49 dead and 53 others injured. Mateen, who had previously been investigated by the FBI for possible connections to terrorism, died in a shootout with police.
The public is split on whether U.S. intelligence agencies could have prevented the attack: 42 percent say yes, while 42 percent say no.
The telephone poll of 1,0001 U.S. adults was conducted June 13-14 and carries an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
