Over 50 percent of people who voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 election say that the Bowling Green Massacre — which never occurred — is proof that Trump's ban on travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries is necessary, a new Public Policy Polling survey found. Fifty-one percent of Trump voters said the nonexistent Bowling Green Massacre was proof of the need for heightened security, while just 2 percent of Hillary Clinton voters said the same.
Kellyanne Conway has repeatedly cited the "Bowling Green Massacre" in interviews, although she later said she "misspoke." Conway had apparently intended to reference two "radicalized" Iraqi refugees who were arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2011 for attempting to send weapons and money to al Qaeda. Though both men are serving life sentences, the FBI said that neither man was charged with "plotting attacks within the United States," nor did the men have any intent to do so.
Nevertheless, 23 percent of Americans overall say the "Bowling Green Massacre" is proof of the necessity of Trump's immigration ban, while 57 percent disagree. PPP adds that "by a 48/43 spread, voters do think that the intent of the executive order is to be a Muslim ban. And just 22 percent support a Muslim ban, to 65 percent who are opposed." Another 66 percent of voters think the ban was poorly executed, a judgment they held even before a federal appeals court ruled 3-0 on Thursday against reinstating Trump's ban.
The PPP poll reached 712 registered voters on Feb. 7 and 8, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.