The majority of voters oppose a partial government shutdown in order to secure funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a new poll.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll, published Wednesday, found that 61 percent of voters are against shutting down the government, including 48 percent who are strongly opposed.
By contrast, 28 percent of voters are in favor of a partial government shutdown in order to get funding for a border wall. A small percentage of voters — 16 percent — believe Congress should allow the government to shut down temporarily if it helps them accomplish their policy goals.
Sixty-nine percent believe Congress should take the steps necessary to prevent a government shutdown and look for other ways to move their policy goals forward.
President Trump promised repeatedly during the 2016 campaign to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border, and during a campaign-style rally last week, the president said he would allow for a partial government shutdown if Congress didn’t allocate money to construct the wall.
“If we have to close down our government, we’re building that wall,” Trump said during the rally in Phoenix, Ariz. “We’re going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We’re going to get that wall.”
While voters generally oppose a partial government shutdown to push Congress to fund a border wall, they’re split on the president’s new strategy to deploy more American troops to Afghanistan.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 45 percent of voters back the plan to raise troop levels in Afghanistan, compared to 41 percent who oppose the proposal.
Trump announced his new strategy for Afghanistan during a speech at Fort Myer in Arlington, Va., last week.
The Politico/Morning Consult poll of 1,999 registered voters was conducted from Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
