Support for police has surged past 4-1 in key battleground 2020 states, likely driven by concerns that “peaceful” Black Lives Matter protests have become more violent.
A new survey for Heritage Action For America found that opposition to defunding the police, part of the Black Lives Matter movement, has jumped to 79%, with just 16% supporting the defund plan.
That opposition to slashing police is the highest of any recent poll, and a strong indicator that the type of law and order message pushed by President Trump and the GOP has support in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where the survey was conducted.
The survey for Heritage Action, which advocates for policies of the Heritage Foundation, also found strong majority support for enforcing laws rather than rethinking how policing is done.
“Digging deeper, we presented respondents with two conflicting statements and asked them to tell us which one best represented their own opinion. One statement read, ‘Our country was founded on the rule of law which gives us stability and order, and we cannot continue to be so without police to enforce our laws.’ The other statement read, ‘We need to rethink policing in our country because much of the money we spend on police should be spent on social services, welfare programs, and schools instead.’ 62% believe we need police to enforce our laws, while only 29% think we need to rethink policing,” said the analysis, provided to Secrets.
The higher support for police in the four states paralleled growing concerns that race protests are becoming riots.
The poll found that by a 49% to 42% margin, the battleground states believe that the protests “have stopped being about racial injustice and have become violent riots by people who hate America and want to tear down our government and radically change American culture.”
The poll backed the group’s advocacy for pro-police policies. “The front line against the anarchy and destruction, stands a thin blue line,” said Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action at an event with Vice President Mike Pence in Iowa last week.
“That thin blue line is made up of courageous law enforcement officers defending our streets, our livelihoods, and our lives. Law enforcement today deserve our utmost thanks and appreciation, and behind them stand each one of us. Grassroots Americans willing to stand up and support our great nation in the face of anarchy, slander, and hatred,” she said.
The new survey helped to draw attention to the new “Police Pledge” from Heritage Action that calls lawmakers to sign on to oppose defunding the police.
The poll touched on several other issues. Notably, it found Trump and Joe Biden tied at 48% each, and it said that voters believe that the coronavirus is more of an economic issue than a medical issue.
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