NEW YORK, Jan 14 (APP):A majority of Americans blame President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers for the partial government shutdown, now in its 24th day, a new poll found.The Washington Post/ABC News poll comes as the shutdown broke the record for the longest in American history. It also found that a majority of Americans shied away from some of Trump's key positions that he is using to legitimize the shutdown.
Around the US, about 800,000 federal workers face increasing hardship without pay and government departments are underfunded and understaffed. Vital services including airport security and nutritional aid to poorer Americans are under increasing strain.On Sunday, the president remained in a drastically understaffed White House, tweeting criticism of Democrats and inflammatory messages about migrants and crime.
The poll found 53% of Americans blame Trump and Republican lawmakers for the shutdown, while 29% blame Democratic lawmakers.
Though support for Trump's long-promised wall along the border with Mexico, funding for which is at the heart of the shutdown, found a slight increase to 42% from 34% this month last year, 54% of
Americans were found to still oppose the wall overall.
Under half of americans disagree with trump's claims of a "Crisis" at the border as 47% said the situation at the border was serious, but not a crisis.
Other polls released over the weekend back the conclusion found in the Washington Post/ABC poll. A CNN poll
released Sunday shows 55% of respondents blamed President Trump more than Democrats in Congress for the shutdown. It also found the 56% of people oppose the proposed border wall. An NPR poll from Friday found that just 3 in 10 believe that the government should be shut down until there is funding for the wall. A Reuters poll
from Tuesday found that 51% believe that Trump "deserves most of the blame" for the shutdown.The minority support for Trump's messaging reflects rebukes from top Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has led calls for an end to the shutdown that was sparked by gridlock in Congress over Trump's demanded $5 billion to construct the wall.
Pelosi said last week that the president should "stop holding the American people hostage and stop manufacturing a crisis, and must reopen the government." Trump has since objected to the term "manufactured crisis" as offensive to border agencies, often using anecdotes about individual crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to hit back at Democrats.
