NEW YORK, Dec 28 (APP):More Americans blame President Donald Trump than Democrats for the six-day partial U.S. government shutdown, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The new poll found that 33 percent of American blamed congressional Democrats for the shutdown, while 47 percent blamed Trump. Seven percent blamed Republicans in Congress. A little more than 12 percent said “other” in response to the options of who to blame.
Only 35 percent of those polled said they support including money for a wall on the Mexican border aimed at stopping illegal migration in a bill to open the government.
Just 25 percent of those polled said they backed Trump for shutting down parts of the federal government over the issue.The government shut down on Saturday after Congress and the White House could not agree to a funding bill that Trump demanded include $5 billion for his wall.
The Senate in a bipartisan voice vote pass a measure that kept the government open through Feb. 8. It did not include money to meet Trump’s $5 billion demand.
The Republican-controlled House rejected that measure and approved legislation that also kept the government open through Feb. 8, but that also included $5.7 billion for border security and Trump’s wall.
That bill has been rejected by Democrats and does not have the support to pass the Senate. Both sides are now in a public blame game over who is responsible for the shutdown. Democrats are confident they will win that public relations fight because of Trump’s past statements at a meeting with congressional Democratic leaders that he would embrace a shutdown over the wall.
The poll is likely to bolster their confidence. The White House has sought to shift blame to Democrats, pointing to the passage by the House of a bill with funding for the wall. Democrats will take over the House on Jan. 3, however, which could weaken the Republicans’ position.
They are expected to quickly pass legislation to reopen the government. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online across the United States. It gathered responses from 2,440 adults, including 946 Democrats and 846 Republicans. The poll has a credibility interval of two percentage points.
