A new poll from Public Policy Polling reveals the predictable: the constant barrage of attacks from conservatives on the Parkland students isn’t having an effect outside of Trump’s base.
In the poll, 39% approve of Trump’s job performance and 54% disapprove. 41% have a favorable view of Trump as opposed to 54% unfavorable. (These are consistent with other recent polls measuring the same.) Those stats carry over pretty consistently from one question to another: honest/not honest (40%/53%), made America great again/hasn’t (38%/54%), shouldn’t release his taxes/should (38%/57%), think the Russia story is fake news/think it’s not fake news (37%/50%), and so on. This number is the same when people are asked whether they think Trump should resign if it is proved conclusively that his campaign collaborated with the Russians in order to get elected (39% think he should continue as president, 54% think he should resign).
Here’s how it breaks down concerning how people view the students who survived the shooting:
And here’s how it breaks down according to how people voted in 2016:
Despite the best efforts by right-wing media and the NRA to make the students look bad, it isn’t working too well outside of Trump’s base. Which is good, but that we have to put up with it at all is a national shame and embarrassment.