Voters aren’t buying President Joe Biden’s claim that Democrats want to fund police around the nation, which could be an election-crushing problem that threatens the party’s hold on Congress.
Despite his promise in the State of the Union address that the party is pro-officer, new polling data show that earlier pledges by liberals to defund the police are what voters believe the party stands for.
“In terms of what is the position of the Democratic Party, voters tend to believe that Democrats want to defund the police” by a 48%-34% margin, pollsters David Winston and Myra Miller said in their latest Winston Group memo shared with Secrets.
It added, “Among groups outside the Democratic Party, Hispanics believe this is what Democrats want (49%-32%), as do suburban voters (45%-36%). Independents believe this slightly at 41%-33%, but especially conservative independents (61%-20%).”
This president seems totally unable or unwilling to change direction in order to get ahead of emerging issues.https://t.co/CFRpl8YzPV
— The Winston Group (@TheWinstonGroup) February 23, 2022
Overall, voters do not want to defund the police, especially since they believe crime is rising.
And, the pollsters said, as Democrats fight over this, voters will continue to believe Democrats favor groups such as Black Lives Matter over the police, which is likely to hurt them at the polls in November. Winston and Miller added, “Without consensus about their party’s position, ‘defunding the police’ will continue to haunt Democrats, especially in the context of escalating crime.”
Also…hire more police officers as the DC chief of police has been saying for months. https://t.co/EHnRZXs9S8
— Myra Miller (@myramiller) January 29, 2022
