A new poll from Quinnipiac University in Hamden finds that the Trump name has a measurable impact on American voter attitudes. It also shows that voters are divided on many of Donald Trump's statements, such as his call to "take out" the families of terrorists, and the polarization increases when Trump's name is attached to these statements.
A news release says the Quinnipiac University Poll asked half of the voters surveyed whether they agree or disagree with a statement or policy, with no name attached. The other half of the voters surveyed were asked the same question, with the Trump name attached.
One example Quinnipiac cited is when voters are asked if they agree with the statement, "The American dream is dead," with no name attached, results are: 45 percent of voters supporting Trump against Hillary Clinton in the November election agree strongly or somewhat, while 54 percent disagree strongly or somewhat; 31 percent of non-Trump voters agree, while 68 percent disagree.
When Trump's name is attached to the statement, 68 percent of Trump voters agree while 30 percent disagree; 18 percent of non-Trump voters agree; while 81 percent disagree.
The polarization increases as pro-Trump support grows by 23 percentage points while non-Trump disagreement grows by 13 percentage points when the Trump name is added, according to the poll.
"In politics, as in business, the Trump name has an impact," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said in a statement. "Even on Donald Trump's most infamous quotes, attaching him to the statement affects voters' opinions. Simply reminding voters that these are Trump's policies and statements increases positive effects among his supporters and negative effects among non-supporters."
Quinnipiac said it doesn't move non-supporters of Trump when his name is added to his Mexican rapists quote, but agreement among his supporters increases by 8 points.
"Even attaching Trump's name to the infamous Mexican rapists quote has a significant positive effect on agreement among Trump supporters, despite the fact that 83 percent know the quote is his," Schwartz said.
There were similar shifts when the Trump name is added to statements such as: "With the terrorists, you have to take out their families," and "Islam hates us."
The Trump name effect on American voters also can be seen in policies proposed by him, the poll found.
While there is a difference between pro-Trump and non-Trump voters, all American voters are almost evenly divided on his proposal to replace free trade agreements with taxes of up to 35 percent on goods imported from countries such as Mexico and China.
Without the Trump name, 48 percent of all voters agree with the trade proposal while 45 percent disagree. With the Trump name, the results are identical.
