While billionaire Donald Trump continues to blast the foreign policy of former President George W. Bush, a new survey shows his supporters overwhelmingly think the wartime president kept the U.S. safe from terrorism.
Fifty percent of voters backing Trump in the latest Morning Consult poll said Bush’s policies made Americans safer while 22 percent said they made the country “less safe.” Eighteen percent said the former president’s policies had “no impact” on America’s security. Trump has ramped up his attacks against Bush, the brother of Trump’s Republican rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, since the eighth GOP debate last Saturday.
At the time, the New York businessman seemed to blame Bush 43 for failing to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“The World Trade Center came down during your brother’s reign. Remember that,” Trump said to Jeb. The remark set off a heated back-and-forth between the two GOP candidates.
To some extent, Trump’s criticism of the last Republican president’s foreign policy has influenced his supporters. While 50 percent of Trump supporters said Bush kept the U.S. safe, that figure pales in comparison to voters who back other GOP hopefuls. For example, 76 percent of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s supporters said Bush’s policies did more to protect the U.S., only 6 percent felt they didn’t and 69 percent of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson’s supporters said Bush kept Americans safe.
Among all voters, however, reactions to Bush’s policies split almost evenly. Thirty-five percent of voters said the former president made the U.S. less safe while 34 percent said he enhanced America’s security. Republican voters were far more likely to say Bush made the U.S. safer than less safe, 57-16 percent, while 43 percent of military households said he kept Americans safe and 33 percent said he didn’t.
The survey of 1,763 registered voters was conducted between Feb. 15-16. results contain a margin of error plus or minus 2 percent.
