Fifty-four percent of voters said they believed President Trump’s actions aimed at reducing crime in Washington, D.C., are justified, according to a new Harvard Caps-Harris poll released on Monday.
Another 46 percent of voters called Trump’s actions “unjustified and not necessary,” according to the poll. Opinions on Trump’s strategy to reduce crime in Washington were strongly divided along party lines, with 72 percent of Democrats calling the actions “unjustified and not necessary” and 85 percent of Republicans calling them “justified and necessary.” Forty-seven percent of Independents called Trump’s actions “justified and necessary,” while 53 percent said they were “unjustified and not necessary.”
The poll comes after Trump deployed the National Guard to the nation’s capital city earlier this month and federalized the Metropolitan Police Department. Additionally, Trump declared a crime emergency in Washington.
“It’s clear Trump is moving from immigration to crime as a major focus and his efforts are receiving strong Republican and independent support,” said Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard Caps-Harris poll.
The poll also found that 51 percent of voters said they believed the increased presence of the National Guard would make Washington, DC “more safe,” while 22 percent said they believed it would make the city “less safe.” Another 27 percent said it would have “no impact.”
Results varied in the poll when respondents were asked about their perception of crime in Washington, D.C. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they believed crime in Washington, DC was “increasing,” while 31 percent said they believed it was “decreasing.” Another 35 percent of respondents said they believed crime in the city was “staying about the same.”
The Harvard Caps/Harris poll was conducted online in the U.S. on Aug. 20-21 among 2,025 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
