Most voters think race relations have worsened under Trump, poll finds


Race relations were steady for a while, then President Trump came along.
Voters largely say that race relations have worsened since Trump took office, a Politico/Morning Consult poll published Wednesday found. Fifty-five percent of those polled say things have gotten worse, while 16 percent say race relations have improved, and 18 percent say they've stayed the same.
Comparatively, most voters said that race relations got better or stayed the same under former President Bill Clinton, and most said they stayed the same under former President George W. Bush. Under former President Barack Obama, 37 percent said they got better, while another 37 percent said they got worse.
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Politico reports that 51 percent of white voters said race relations have worsened under Trump, while 79 percent of African-American voters and 60 percent of Hispanic voters said the same. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is also a wide partisan split in the poll — only 4 percent of Democrats say race relations have improved since Trump took office, but 35 percent of Republicans think so.
On a more generally ominous note, while the poll found wide disparities in everything from voting priorities to thoughts on the investigation into Russian election interference, voters largely came together on one sentiment: Fifty-nine percent said the U.S. has "pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track."
The poll was conducted August 2-6, surveying 1,994 voters who were interviewed online. The margin of error is 2 percentage points. See more results at Politico.
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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