One of the Republican party's traditional bases is heading in Democratic nominee Joe Biden's direction.
Active-duty military members favor Biden to President Trump 43 to 37 percent, a poll from Military Times and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University has found. That's a major shift from where Trump stood in 2016, when he had a 41-21 lead over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Trump's overall support among those active-duty troops has fallen as well, with just 38 percent having a favorable view of him, per the poll. That matches his lowest approval ever recorded among active-duty troops, which was found in late 2019, Military Times says. Nearly half of those respondents — 49.9 percent — viewed Trump unfavorably, and 42 percent said they "strongly disapprove" of Trump's time in office.
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While the shift doesn't necessarily mean "troops are beginning to think more like Democrats," it is clear that "Trump can't be claiming to have overwhelming support in the military," said Peter Feaver, a White House adviser to former President George W. Bush who is now a political science professor at Duke University.
Military Times and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University polled 1,018 active-duty troops online between July 27 and Aug. 10, with a less than 2 percent margin of error. Find more of the poll's results here.
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