“Build the wall” was a common chant at Trump rallies, but most of the country isn’t on the same page, new polling reveals. Meanwhile, middle-class tax cuts, a consistent but quieter theme of Donald Trump’s campaign, is a big winner with the public.
Trump’s populist suggestions play better with the American public, the polling suggests. Slashing middle-class and lower-income taxes, slapping term limits on Congress, and boosting infrastructure spending are all winners according to a recent roundup of Gallup Polling.
Particularly popular is Trump’s plan to give middle-class families with two kids a 35 percent tax break. A majority, 53 percent, say that the middle class pays too much while 46 percent say that low-income individuals are also overburden by taxation. These are the highest percentages in years.
But Trump’s marquee issue is less of a winner outside the population of his rally-goers. Two-thirds of Americans, Gallup reports, oppose a wall on the entire U.S.-Mexico border and 84 percent support a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.
Trump will have plenty of convincing to do on issues from Common Core (where half of the country has no opinion) to trade policy. His salesmanship is in for a test.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
