A desperate Donald Trump continued to stoke unrest over Labor Day weekend even as more polls show the tactic isn't winning over new voters. As Trump retweeted altercations between feuding protesters and videos of a Portland activist whose feet caught fire, a new round of polls suggest Trump's ploy continues to fall on deaf ears and even weaken his position.
A CBS News battleground tracking poll released Sunday put Democratic nominee Joe Biden ahead of Trump nationally by 10 points among likely voters, 52%-42%. In Wisconsin, the poll also found Biden leading Trump, 50%-44%.
But the CBS polling also showed Trump's continued “law and order” appeals, particularly to suburban voters, to be a total flop with voters overall. Nationally and in Wisconsin, registered voters give Biden higher marks for his handling of the recent protests, particularly striking given Trump's focus on the recent unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the brutal police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Approval |
Biden |
Trump |
Nationally |
51% |
44% |
Wisconsin |
51% |
45% |
A strong plurality of voters also view Trump as purposely pouring gasoline on the fire.
Regarding recent protests, are they trying to...?
|
Biden |
Trump |
Calm the situation |
49% |
39% |
Encourage fighting |
30% |
47% |
More generally, voters nationwide also say Biden would make them feel more safe as president than Trump, 48%-43%.
The CBS polling reinforced surveys from last week showing similar trends, including an ABC/Ipsos poll released Friday also finding that voters view Trump's rhetoric on the protests as more harmful.
trump |
|
Makes the situation worse |
55% |
Makes the situation better |
13% |
By comparison, just 26% of respondents thought Biden was making things worse, while 22% said he made it better. A plurality of 49% said Biden wasn't having much of an effect one way or the other.
But Biden also posted double-digit margins of 20 points or more over Trump on who would do better at unifying the country while quelling unrest.
Would do better uniting Americans rather than dividing them?
Would do a better job handling the protests?
Would do a better job reducing violence in the country?
None of this means Trump's going to stop driving his twisted “law and order” message—he delights in blood and gore and has little if anything left to run on besides the protests. The same message was flopping a month ago, and that hasn't deterred Trump from continuing to drive it into the ground.
"If Biden gets in, this violence is ‘coming to the Suburbs', and FAST,” Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. “You could say goodbye to your American Dream!"
But if anything, Trump seems to be reminding voters what an absolute menace he is.