New ADL poll: 33% of Americans think Trump’s an anti-Semite
For first time in 53 years polling US attitudes toward Jews, civil rights group asked respondents if they thought US president harbored anti-Semitic views
WASHINGTON — Some one-third of Americans think that US President Donald Trump is personally anti-Semitic, according to new polling data commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League.
In a survey taken from January 2017 to February 2017, 33% of respondents agreed that Trump “holds anti-Semitic views,” while 50% disagreed.
It’s impossible to know how those figures compare to what the American populace thought of past presidents and whether they may harbor feelings of anti-Semitism, because the civil rights group has never polled that question before for a sitting president.
“We polled on this question for the first time because of the climate and rhetoric during the election campaign,” ADL Chief Jonathan Greenblatt told The Times of Israel. There was a great deal of concern about anti-Semitism and bigotry, and we wanted to get a better sense of public perceptions of intolerance in politics.”
The survey found higher numbers of Americans think he has prejudiced views toward other minorities: 59% think he has “anti-Muslim views,” 54% thinks he has “racist views” and 53% thinks he has “anti-Latino views.”
Thirty-five percent also think he’s “too close to the alt-right movement,” an amorphous designation that encompasses a broad swath of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and far-right ideologues — many of whom, including the anti-Semitic provocateur Richard Spencer, who coined the term, enthusiastically supported his campaign.
