Anger is driving the Trump vote, according to a new survey.
Rasmussen Reports unveiled a new poll Monday that showed 96 percent of Donald Trump’s supporters are angry at government, with 65 percent who are “very angry.”
And it’s not just Trump voters who are disappointed in Washington. Rasmussen said that just 46 percent of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s supporters believe the government does the “right thing all or most of the time.” But in general, Clinton’s backers are appreciative of the federal government in other questions posed by the polling firm.
The poll reinforces a feeling established during the 2010 Tea Party uprising that the federal government is out of touch and has left Middle America behind as it focuses on policies like global warming and bailing people and companies out of trouble.
But it also shows the division between Democrats and Republicans, and especially Trump and Clinton voters.
“The upcoming president election is shaping up as a referendum on the federal government and its actions. Supporters of Donald Trump really dislike the feds, while voters who support Hillary Clinton think they’re great,” said the survey analysis. Among the findings:
— 96% of likely U.S. voters who support Trump are angry at the current policies of the federal government, including 65% who are very angry.
— Only 36% of voters who favor Clinton share that anger, with just five percent who are very angry.
— 46% of Clinton voters think the federal government does the right thing all or most of the time, 58% of Trump supporters think it rarely or never does the right thing.
— 66% of Clinton voters believe the federal government today is a protector of individual liberty. Among Trump voters, 89% think the federal government is a threat to individual liberty instead.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
