New polling from Monmouth today:
A majority of Americans (57%) say that police officers facing a difficult or dangerous situation are more likely to use excessive force if the culprit is black, compared to one-third (33%) who say the police are just as likely to use excessive force against black and white culprits in the same type of situation. The current findings represent a marked change in public opinion from prior polls. In a poll of registered voters taken after the police shooting of Alton Sterling in Louisiana in July 2016, just 34% said blacks were more likely to be subject to excessive force while 52% said they were just as likely as whites. In December 2014, after a grand jury declined to indict a New York City police officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, the results were 33% more likely and 58% just as likely.
Nearly all black Americans (87%) feel that individuals of their race are more likely than whites to experience excessive force. This is up slightly from 77% in a 2016 poll, but the overall shift in public opinion on this question is due mainly to an increase among other racial groups. Currently, 49% of white Americans say that police are more likely to use excessive force against a black culprit, which is nearly double the number (25%) who said the same in 2016. Another 39% of whites say police are just as likely to use excessive force regardless of race, which is down significantly from 62% four years ago. Among Americans of Latino, Asian and other minority backgrounds, 63% say black individuals are more likely to be subject to excessive force by police, which is up from 39% in 2016. Just 27% of this group say police are as likely to use excessive force in a situation with a white or black person, which is down from 43% in 2016.
“It seems we have reached a turning point in public opinion where white Americans are realizing that black Americans face risks when dealing with police that they do not. They may not agree with the violence of recent protests, but many whites say they understand where that anger is coming from,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
[…]
Just over half (53%) of the public feels that race relations have worsened since Trump became president. Only 10% say they have gotten better and 33% say there has been no change. These results, though, are similar to opinion during Barack Obama’s time in office. In 2016, 53% said race relations had worsened during Obama’s term, 10% said they had gotten better and 33% said there was no change. The similarity in these topline results masks some contradictory shifts underneath the numbers. In the current poll, blacks (75%) and other minorities (65%) are more likely than whites (45%) to say that race relations have gotten worse during Trump’s presidency. Four years ago, whites (59%) were more likely than blacks (37%) and other minorities (38%) to say that race relations had worsened in the Obama years.
Meanwhile:
In other poll findings, the incumbent president’s overall job rating continues on a downward trend since hitting a high point three months ago. Trump’s performance now earns a 42% approve and 54% disapprove rating from the American public. He held a 43% to 51% rating in May, a 44% to 49% rating in April, and a 46% to 48% rating in March. His February rating, before the coronavirus pandemic spread, was 44% to 50%.
[…]
Currently, 21% of the public says the country is headed in the right direction while 74% says it is on the wrong track. This result is more negative than it has been in Monmouth polling going back to 2013. This metric stood at 33% to 60% in May and hit 39% to 54% back in March. The last time the right direction/wrong track metric approached its current low level was December 2017 when it stood at 24% to 66%, with the prior low in Monmouth’s seven-year trend being 23% to 69% in December 2014. The biggest drop in the past month has come among Republicans, from 64% right direction and 28% wrong track in May to 45% right direction and 46% wrong track now. It has also declined among independents (29% to 63% in May and 17% to 78% now) and Democrats (13% to 83% in May and 4% to 92% now). It has dropped about equally among whites, blacks, and other minority groups.
Aaand:
Keep in mind that some of those white people who disapprove probably think he’s not being tough enough. Still, the cult as a whole seems to be divided over this.
And those suburban women don’t seem to be any more impressed with Trump’s leadership on this than they with anything else he does. Seniors either…