Only one-fifth of Americans think Trump is against white nationalism
President Donald Trump’s administration has repeatedly attacked LGBT+ rights (Joe Raedle/Getty)
Only 19 percent of Americans think that US President Donald Trump personally opposes white nationalism, according to a new survey.
Nearly four in ten (39 percent), meanwhile, said they believe Trump supports white nationalism.
One-fifth of those surveyed said they think Trump does not have a strong opinion either way on white nationalism.
The poll was carried out by HuffPost and YouGov in the aftermath of the mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed 50 people during Friday prayers on March 15.
Poll on white nationalism is carried out in wake of New Zealand mass shootings in two mosques
An Australian man was arrested and charged with murder over the terror attack.
The suspect described Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose” in his lengthy manifesto.
White nationalism is the belief of a white race. It seeks to maintain a “white national identity” and the survival of the white race.
The HuffPost and YouGov research involved 1,000 interviews with US adults taken from March 15 to March 16.
A woman places a candle amongst flowers and tributes near Al Noor mosque on March 19, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Carl Court/Getty)
It used a sample size that matched the characteristics and demographics of the American adult population.
Although Trump condemned the New Zealand terrorist attack as a “horrible act,” he did not directly send his condolences to the country’s Muslim community.
Trump is criticised for not condemning white nationalism after New Zealand terror attack
Trump also did not condemn white supremacy or white nationalism in the wake of the mass shootings.
After Trump was criticised for his response to the terror attack, the president’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney released a statement defending him.
“The president is not a white supremacist,” said Mulvaney.
“I’m not sure how many times we have to say that.”
“The president is not a white supremacist.”
HuffPost and YouGov’s survey also found that more than half of US adults (52 percent) said that white nationalism poses a threat to America.
Some 30 percent of these individuals believe this threat to be “very serious,” according to HuffPost.
The survey found that black Americans are two-times more likely than white Americans to describe white nationalism as a very serious threat.
US voters who supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, meanwhile, were 13 times as likely to say white nationalism poses a very serious threat to the country.
