Do Americans believe Trump is serious about going after opponents? Poll finds divide

Americans are divided over how to interpret some of President-elect Donald Trump’s more controversial statements, recent polling reveals.

A Monmouth University poll asked respondents whether they thought Trump was being serious or exaggerating when — on the campaign trail — he said he “could suspend some laws and constitutional provisions to go after political enemies” if reelected.

About half of respondents, 48%, said this was “something he will seriously do,” while 47% said it was “more of an exaggeration.” Five percent said they didn’t know.

The responses were strongly divided by partisan affiliation. Seventy-seven percent of Democrats said Trump was being serious, while 48% of independents and just 21% of Republicans said the same.

Conducted between Dec. 5 to 10, the poll sampled 1,006 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

The poll followed up on the first question, asking: “If Donald Trump did suspend some laws and constitutional provisions, would that bother you a lot, bother you a little, or not bother you at all?”

Fifty-two percent said it would bother them a lot. Meanwhile, 22% said it would bother them a little, 22% said it would not bother them at all, and 4% said they didn’t know.

Here, the responses were again split by partisan affiliation, with Republicans showing significantly less concern than Democrats and independents.

The majority of Democrats and independents — 77% and 55%, respectively — said Trump suspending some laws and going after opponents would bother them a lot. Just 23% of Republicans said the same.

An additional 36% of Republicans said it would not bother them at all, while 21% of independents and 10% of Democrats said the same.

This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Do Americans believe Trump is serious about going after opponents? Poll finds divide."