A man looks at fallen tombstones at the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery, February 26, 2017, in Philadelphia. AFP/DOMINICK REUTER)
NEW YORK — Nearly two-thirds of US voters say hatred and prejudice in the United States have risen since Donald Trump was elected president, an opinion poll revealed Thursday.
Sixty-three percent of subjects polled by Quinnipiac University said hatred and prejudice have increased since Trump’s November 2016 election, while 32% said the levels have not changed. Just 2% said they have decreased.
The survey found that 77% of voters characterized prejudice against minority groups in America as a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem.
Seventy percent of voters said anti-Semitism was a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem, up from 49% in February, the poll found.
A police officer removes swastika stickers from the front of the Loop Synagogue in Chicago on February 4, 2017, following what authorities said was a hate crime (screen capture: NBC Chicago)
The Quinnipiac poll said US voters were split over Trump’s response to threats and acts of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries, with 37% who approve and 38% who disapprove.
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Trump remained silent for several days on an attack damaging more than 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Missouri, before decrying anti-Semitic threats as “horrible” and “painful.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a national civil rights group dedicated to the fight against anti-Semitism, has recorded 140 bomb threats against Jewish institutions across the country since January 1.
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the National Governors Association and his administration before a meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House, February 27, 2017, in Washington, DC. (AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski)
To date, one man has been arrested in connection with eight of those threats, the organization said earlier this week.
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Critics voiced concern about Trump’s embrace by white supremacist groups and an “alt-right” movement given a platform on Breitbart, the online news outlet once headed by his chief White House strategist Steve Bannon.
“Americans are concerned that the dark forces of prejudice and anti-Semitism are rearing their ugly heads,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
The survey polled 1,323 voters nationwide from March 2-6 and carried a margin of error of 2.7%.
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